Intertwined Destiny's
by CursedAvenger
Summary: Three unique and different individuals each with a different goal and view of life. However all three of them are held by a bond of friendship and a certain promise that intertwine their destiny's. STORY CURRENTLY ON HALT. OLDER CHAPTERS ARE BEING REVISED
1. Chapter 1

"Intertwined Destiny's"

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Naruto.

A/N: This is my first shot at writing fan fiction. This story takes place once Naruto returns from his training with Jiraiya. Constructive Criticism is always welcome and feel free to e-mail me if you have any ideas or questions. Pairings are still being decided but there will be Naru/Saku and Sasu/Saku. A poll will decide what the other pairings will be so please review!

It was another day in the hidden Village of Konohagure. The sun had only started to creep over the heads of the Hokage Mountain on which the faces of the previous leaders of Konaha were carved into. It was on this early morning that two travelers dressed in unique attire were making their way into the hidden village.

One of them is an old man in his sixties with long white hair that was kept together with a headband that was different from the ones usually seen in Konoha. He is wearing a red tunic over a grey shirt, grey pants and a pair of sandals. Slung across his waist is a big scroll. This person is known as one of the Three Legendary Sannin and the author of the infamous book "Come Come Paradise", Jiraiya.

The Frog Hermit is currently trying the keep a certain blond haired shinobi from running into the village without him. The now 15 year old boy we know as Uzumaki Naruto has greatly changed and that can be seen by his change in clothing. Naruto no longer wears the bright orange jacket and pants he wore before leaving the village 3 years ago.

After a lot of convincing from Jiraiya, Naruto has changed his favorite outfit for something more appealing to the eye. His new outfit includes a light black jacket with many pockets for scrolls, kunai, and other shinobi equipment, a red t-shirt with a black Spiral symbol etched on the front, and black cargo pants that have two weapon pouches attached to it.

Completing his assemble is a pair of black gloves, the one on left hand is attached to an arm guard that stretches up to his elbow and black ninja sandals. Tied proudly on his forehead is a Konoha Headband which is worn out and scratched from his training. It is also apparent that Naruto has grown in the past few years as he has now reached a height of 5"8 and his tanned body is proof of his travels.

Jiraiya having had enough of the young ninjas antics quickly smacks Naruto on the top of his head "Enough already Naruto! You would think that after three years you would have learned to be patient."

The blond shinobi scratches the back of his head as a wide Cheshire smile appears on his face "I'm sorry Ero-sennin but I can wait to get back to Konoha and see everyone again"

The White haired Sannin smile's as his excited student continues talking.

"It's been three whole years since I left! I can't wait to see how everyone has changed!" exclaims Naruto, "and I can't wait to see Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei!"

At the thought of Iruka-sensei another thought appears in Naruto's head, "I bet Iruka-sensei will be so happy to see me he'll treat me to ramen at Ichiraku!" At this thought the blond ninja starts drooling as images of his favorite food dance in his thoughts.

Jiraiya sighs as he watches his student drool in a zombie like state "I feel sorry for Iruka, after not having ramen for so long one can only wonder how many bowls Naruto will devour…."

-----Ten minutes later in front of Konoha Gates-----

"Yipeee! We're finally here! Good Morning Konoha!" screams a hyperactive Naruto as Jiraiya deadpans behind him.

Jiraiya once again smacks the blond genin on the back of his head "Quiet Naruto! If you don't shut up you will wake up the whole village"

"Ow! Ero-sennin stop doing that! Yells an agitated Naruto

"Well I told you to calm down you are making too much of a commotion, a student of the Great Toad Hermit should be calm and dignified" replies Jiraiya.

Scowling Naruto starts to say something but is cut off as one of the guards, a chunnin, jumps down. The other guard sweat drops at the conversation between teacher and student.

"Ahem, Jiraiya-sama I have to see you and your student's passport before I can allow you to enter Konoha" states the Gate guard.

"Ah ok I have them somewhere replies the Sannin as he searches through his jacket for the said items. "I know I put them somewhere…..wait here they are!"

After confirming that the travelers were shinobi of Konoha the chunnin allows them to enter the village.

-----Hokage Tower-----

After allowing Jiraiya and his student to enter the village the chunnin hurries to the Hokage tower to inform the Gondaime of the recent arrivers.

After being allowed to enter the Hokage's office he finds Tsunade and her pink haired apprentice drinking tea while the Sannin reads through a paper.

"Tsunade-sama!"

The blond haired woman who looks in her mid thirties looks up from her reading "Yes what is it?"

The chunnin quickly replies "Jiraiya-sama and his apprentice Uzumaki Naruto has just recently entered the village"

At the sound of this news a smile plays through both females in the room. Haruno Sakura suddenly gets up from her chair, "Tsunade-sama can I be excused? I want to see Naruto again."

Smiling the Sannin nods, "Of course you can Sakura, and would you mind telling him to come see me later?

The pink haired genin quickly agrees "Hai! Tsunade-sama, thank you" and with that Sakura quickly exits out of the room.

Tsunade turns back to the Gate Guard "Thank you for informing me of their arrival you may leave now"

"Hai Tsunade-sama" says the chunnin as he too disappears.

-----With Naruto-----

Naruto is currently speeding off to the Ninja Academy to meet up with Iruka-sensei. The blond shinobi is bubbling with excitement at the thought of seeing his favorite teacher after 3 years. Unfortunately the streets of Konoha are a little too crowded this morning and one too many times he found himself almost crashing into food stalls and such.

"_Meh, this is to annoying everyone's in my way!", "Wait I know I'll just take to the rooftops!" _With a quick jump Naruto jumps onto the rooftops and continues his way to the Academy.

-----With Sakura-----

The Hokage's apprentice is walking through the streets of Konoha searching for her old teammate. "_I can't wait to see Naruto again! I wonder how much stronger he's gotten?" _

Sakura quickly changes her direction and heads off towards Ichiraku "_If I know Naruto he's probably stuffing his face with ramen right now."_

Once arriving at Ichiraku Sakura steps in expecting to see Naruto eating ramen. However, the blond genin is nowhere in sight.

"_Aww, I was sure Naruto would come here first….wait he probably went to see Iruka-sensei at the Academy!" _

Jumping onto the rooftops Sakura quickly makes her way to the Ninja Academy.

-----At the Ninja Academy-----

Naruto races through the hallways finally coming into a quick halt in front of his old classroom. Sliding the door open he steps into the large classroom and makes his way to the teacher's desk.

"Iruka-sensei! Hey Iruka-sensei where are you?"

Behind a pile of books a young chuunin's face emerges, he has a kind smile and a scar running horizontally across his nose.

"Naruto! Your finally back I was wondering when you would show up"

"Iruka-sensei I missed you so much! Come on you can treat me to ramen at Ichiraku!" replies the blond genin excitedly as he grabs his sensei's hand and leads him out of the classroom.

"Naruto hold on at least let me put away these books!" yells the teacher-nin as he is lead off.

"_I wonder is it really me he misses of my wallet?…" _sighs Iruka walks out after Naruto.

-----With Sakura-----

The pink haired genin is currently headed in the direction of the Ninja Academy when she sees a familiar blond haired ninja and his favorite teacher headed in her direction.

"Hey Naruto!" yells Sakura getting the blond ninjas attention.

"Sakura-chan!" screams Naruto and the pink haired genin quickly finds herself embraced in a hug that knocks them both off their feet.

"It's nice to see you to Naruto but I can't breathe" gasps Sakura as she tries to get up.

"Oh sorry Sakura-chan I guess I should have slowed down right?" says Naruto as he quickly gets to his feet and scratches the back of his head in a Naruto-ish way.

"It's ok Naruto anyway I'm so happy that your back" smiling Sakura gets back up to her feet and looks up at Naruto's face.

-----Sakura's Thoughts------

"_Wait when did Naruto get taller them me? Wow I guess his training really did pay off he has gotten taller and his body has a nice tan……wait this is NARUTO I'm talking about must get perverted thoughts out of my head…"_

(A/N: Inner Sakura) **_"Heheheh Naruto sure did get hotter I bet he has nice toned muscles under that jacket…"_**

"_No! Naruto is my friend! Must knock last few images out of my head…"_

"_**It's no use… hmm Naruto is probably as hot as Sasuke-kun now"**_

"_No he is not, how dare you compare Sasuke-kun to Naruto, although he is cute now though….."_

"_**Hah I knew it you like**_

_**Naruto-kun"**_

"_No I like Sasuke-kun"_

"_**Naruto!"**_

"_Sasuke!"_

"_**Naruto!"**_

"_I don't like Naruto-kun! Wait did I just call him Naruto-kun?"_

"_**Yes I know it you like Naruto!"**_

"…_.JUST SHUT UP!"_

-----With Naruto and Iruka-sensei-----

The two male shinobi were currently watching Sakura, whose facial expressions kept changing at a rapid pace, with confused looks on their faces.

Naruto wanting to see if Sakura was alright pokes her on the forehead "Sakura-chan are you alright?

Knocked out of her battle with her inner self Sakura quickly blushes.

"Ahem it's okay Naruto-kun I'm alright" replies Sakura not noticing her little slipup.

"Ok why don't you join us for ramen Sakura? Naruto you can tell both of us what you did these

past three years" says Iruka.

"Oh yeah I almost forgot about ramen! Come on Sakura-chan, Iruka-sensei lets go!"

As the group speeds off towards Ichiraku a thought suddenly comes to his head '_Did Sakura-chan call me Naruto-kun back there? Nah I must have heard wrong….." _

-----20 Minutes and 40 Ramen Bowls Later-----

**BELCH! **"Ah that was so good thanks a lot Iruka-Sensei."

Sakura's face grows red as veins pulse on her forehead…"NARUTO don't you have any manners don't do that in front of a lady!"

Sakura uppercuts Naruto and sends him flying through the "roof".

-----2 Minutes Later-----

After Naruto finally rockets back into his seat (A/N: Shrugs, I don't know he flew perfectly straight up?) Iruka-sensei decides to start up a conversation that does not involve Naruto's manners.

"So Naruto did you see Tsunade-sama's face on the Hokage monument?"

"Yea I did! I can't believe I didn't notice it until I was falling back though….to bad they didn't show the old hags real appearance." replies Naruto.

Sakura and Iruka-sensei both sweat drop.

"Anyway Naruto tell us about your travels through the shinobi countries." asks Sakura genuinely interested.

"Ahh traveling with Ero-sennin was fun but he did get us into a lot of trouble with his perverted behavior..."

"Naruto you better not have picked up anything perverted from that Old Pervert" death glares Sakura.

Naruto shivering with fear "Uh, no don't worry Ero-sennin's behavior didn't rub of on me…_I guess I shouldn't tell her what Ero-sennin did on my last birthday…_anyway even though we did get into a lot of trouble Ero-sennin did not show any mercy when it came to training….."

-----After a couple of Colorful and "Slightly" Exaggerated tales from Naruto-----

"Naruto, Sakura it's getting late and I still have work to do so I'll be leaving now" says Iruka-sensei

"Okay Sensei and oh yeah Naruto Tsunade-sama asked me to tell you to meet her when you have time, anyway have to leave too" Sakura gets up and starts to walks away.

"Bye Sakura-chan, Iruka-sensei!"

"Bye Naruto-kun!" replies Sakura and winks at the blond genin before leaving.

Naruto blushes "_I was right she did call me "Naruto-kun", maybe her feelings for me are changing?"_

Naruto slowly gets up from his seat and with a final thank you to the old man and his daughter he speeds off towards the Hokage Tower.

A/N: Well this is the first chapter please review and tell me what you think about the story so far. Since this story is still in the planning stages your thoughts might affect how the story proceeds so review! Also I am trying to find a site to translate techniques into Japanese if you know a site please inform me.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Naruto.

A/N: This is the second chapter to Intertwined Destiny's. Sorry this chapter took so long to post school started so I was a little busy. In the previous chapter Naruto had just left on his way to the Hokage Tower to meet up with the Gondaime, Tsunade.

-----Hokage Tower-----

The sun is lowly setting in the horizon and the sky in colored in multiple shades of orange and yellow. The last rays of sunlight peek through the window of Gondaime's office basking the room in a lazy orange light. Out of the shadows of the room a white haired Sannin steps up to address his old teammate.

"Yo! Tsunade how's the Hokage life treating you? Says the Perverted Hermit his focus of attention is clearly not on Tsunade's face.

Noticing that Jiraiya's attention is focused mainly on her bust Tsunade quickly decides to re-teach her old teammate a lesson he as clearly forgotten.

"Jiraiya..." Her face turns red as veins start popping up on her forehead "How many times did I tell you to stop being such a pervert!" and with that Tsunade uses her monstrous strength to punch the Perverted Hermit right through the wall.

Right after Jiraiya is punched through the wall, courtesy of the Hokage, A Jounin with fluffy grey hair, a mask that covers most of his face and a headband slanted over his left eye climbs through the newly made hole. Noticing the bloody heap on the floor known as Jiraiya the Special Jounin known as Copy-Nin Kakashi decides to put away his favorite book, whose author is coincidently unconscious on the floor, to avoid the same fate as Jiraiya.

Cringing his visible eye in what seemed a smile he waves his right hand to address the Hokage. "Hokage-sama you called for me?"

"Yes I did…. Wait why didn't you enter from the door?"

The Copy-Nin shrugs "The hole was closer….."

Tsunade sweat drops.

"Anyway, Tsunade-sama you called me to attend an urgent meeting right?"

Anger once again shows on Tsunade's face as she starts screaming "That was an hour ago Kakashi! Have you ever been on time in your life!"

"Yes I have Hokage-sama; I was first in line to get tickets to the upcoming movie of "Come Come Paradise". I had to wait one week on line but it was worth it for this ticket." Kakashi flashes a gold colored ticket with Come Come Paradise" written on it. "Coincidently that is also the reason I was late…."

"Is that so Kakashi?" Suddenly the ticket bursts into flames from the impact of Tsunade's death glare "Consider that your punishment for being late"

The life suddenly goes out of the Copy-Nin's eyes as he stares at what left of his hard earned ticket "One week of fighting for first place in line wasted" he mumbles as he faints.

-----Five Minutes Later-----

After Jiraiya finally recovered from his head injury and a traumatized Kakashi was healed with a free VIP pass from Jiraiya, the two Sannin and Jounin start on their delayed meeting.

"Ahem we can finally get on to what I called you to for. Jiraiya how is Naruto's training so far?"

"Well even though he might not act like it most of the time Naruto has grown. His chakra control has improved greatly and he has mastered a lot of jutsu's from the various countries we visited. His Taijutsu is now more advanced and he knows a couple of Genjutsu techniques."

Kakashi smiles at the news of his old student's improvement "Well it seems Naruto has definitely improved he is probably mid-Chuunin level by now."

"Yes and I've been thinking that I should promote Naruto and Sakura to chunnin since they are definitely above genin level."

"I don't think you should." Replied Jiraiya "I think they would both like to take the Chunnin Exam as a FULL team."

With the mention of Team Seven all thoughts went to the "Last" Uchiha and the mood of the room suddenly became more serious.

Tsunade addresses the Frog Hermit "Jiraiya do you have any information on Akatsuki or Orochimaru?

Jiraiya suddenly takes out a scroll out of his vest. "Akatsuki members have been more active now that the 3 years are coming to a close. Last I heard two members of the Akatsuki were headed to the Hidden Village of Sand, their objective is probably to get information on Gaara of the Sand."

Jiraiya then takes out a bigger scroll which has several maps of the Ninja Nations. He indicates to a certain part of the map which shows the Hidden Village of Sound.

"A month before we arrived in Konoha, Naruto and I scouted for information in the Sound Country. One night after Naruto had fallen asleep in the hotel we were staying I headed out to visit an old acquaintance of mine."

A look of recognition finally came over Tsunade's face. "You went to see the Old Seer didn't you?"

"Old Seer? Who is this Old Seer? Asked Kakashi clearly puzzled.

"The Old Seer Chorobi-san is a wide renowned seer known for her powers to look into the future. Unfortunately use of her power comes with a hefty price." Sighed Jiraiya.

"She made you pay off your debts didn't she?" asked Tsunade a grin on her face.

"Yes….with interest at that"

"How much did you owe her?" asked Kakashi

"Let's just say my bank account dropped a couple of digits after I paid everything off…"

Kakashi and Tsunade sweat dropped.

"Well anyway Chorobi-san said that Orochimaru and his followers were currently hiding in an area south of Tea Country (A/N: I'm pretty sure that Tea Country was only mentioned in the anime but I could be wrong.) called the Hydra Marshes. (A/N: Give me a break I wrote this at 1 in the morning it's not that creative but live with it.)

A look of shock appears in Tsunade's face. "The Hydra Marshes….that is a highly toxic swamp that is supposed to hide creatures that are very poisonous. The marshes themselves give off toxins that would kill any human that tried to get through it."

"Yes I found that out the hard way" replied Jiraiya.

Kakashi and Tsunade deadpanned.

"And he call's himself a Legendary Sannin….." Muttered Kakashi.

"Before I was totally knocked out I managed to get a sample of the toxin and get out of there." The Frog Hermit takes out a vial with purplish green liquid inside it. "I was hoping you would be able to make some kind of antidote from this."

Tsunade nods "Okay I'll see what I can do but for now don't mention any of this to any of the genin.

Both of them males in the room nod in agreement.

-----With Naruto-----

Naruto was currently in the halls of the Hokage Tower. He had arrived only a few moments ago and was now headed off to the Hokage's office. At the desk in front of the office Naruto sees a familiar face.

"Shizune-nee-chan!" the raven haired Hokage's assistant looked up to see a face she had not seen in two years.

"Naruto-kun! Your back!" Shizune embraces Naruto in a small hug. "When did you get back?"

Naruto scratches the back of his head and smiles. "We came back this morning and then I had ramen with Iruka-sensei and Sakura-chan."

Shizune smiles "You came to see Tsunade-sama didn't you?"

"Yeah Obaa-chan wanted me to visit when I had the time."

"Well then you may enter Tsunade is waiting for you."

Naruto walks toward the door and notices a hole in the wall that looks a lot like his teacher.

"_What did Ero-sennin do this time?"_

Opening the door Naruto walks into the familiar office of the Hokage's. Inside he sees Kakashi, Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"Hello Tsunade-baa-chan! Did you miss me?

Tsunade smiles pretending to be ticked off by the nickname and embraces Naruto in a motherly hug, which means Naruto's face is buried in her huge breasts causing him to go red.

This of course causes Jiraiya to start drooling indicating that he would do anything to be in his apprentice's place.

"Say Tsunade how come I didn't get a welcome back hug?" asks a still drooling Jiraiya.

"Well because I have something even more special in store for you." replies Tsunade in a sickeningly sweet voice.

At the thought of what Tsunade's surprise might be Jiraiya gets a dreamy look in his face and a little blood trickles down his nose. "Well Tsunade why don't you show me this surprise of yours."

"As you wish." Suddenly Tsunade releases a great amount of killer intent and kicks Jiraiya where "the sun doesn't shine". (A/N: I don't know why I used this saying it just fit P)

The tremendous force behind the Hokage's kick sends the Perverted Hermit flying leaving a decent sized hole in the ceiling and flying all the way into Konoha's trap area. (A/N: The area where the big dog dragged Naruto in the early episodes)

The two other males in the room tremble in fright covering their crotch.

Suddenly Tsunade turns back to Naruto an eerie smile on her face. "I really hope that having such perverted teachers didn't leave a bad influence on you Naruto-kun."

"A-ah of course n-n-not T-Tsunade-baa-chan" replies a trembling Naruto.

"_Why does everyone ask me that……"_

"Good, anyway Naruto it's good to finally see you after two years. Now that your back I'm reinstating you back into Kakashi's team if that's fine with you."

"Hai baa-chan"

Kakashi not wanting to be the target of Tsunade's next assault quickly tells Naruto a message before leaving "Ok Naruto I'll see you and Sakura two days from now in the old training field."

With that said the Silver haired Jounin disappears in a swirl of leaves leaving Naruto and Tsunade alone.

"Okay Tsunade-baa-chan I'm going to go home now." says Naruto before jumping out of the window.

-----On the streets of Konoha-----

As Naruto was walking to his apartment he sees two familiar faces. One was Nara Shikamaru the famous lazy genius of Konoha. Appearance wise Shikamaru did not change much but he has gotten taller and has more muscle due to his missions as a chunnin.

With him is his best friend Akimichi Choji. Choji on the other hand has had some noticeable changes. Although he is still large most of his previous fat is now muscle proof of his new goal to get stronger to protect his friends. Even with this change Choji is still the kind and lovable ninja he always was.

Wanting to get his friends attention Naruto calls out their name while running. Unfortunately being the clumsy idiot he is the blond Genin does not notice the rock on the ground and trips on it.

The last thing Shikamaru says before being tackled by Naruto is "Too troublesome."

A/N: Okay I think poor Jiraiya was abused enough in this chapter. In the next chapter some of the former Rookie Nine and Gai's team will be introduced. Also I will be starting the plans for the other pairings so review with what pairing you want. I will not be doing yaoi, I have nothing against it I just don't want to write it. One last thing pairings with Naruto, Sakura, or Sasuke will not be accepted because this poll is only for other character pairings. Thank you for reading and please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Naruto.

A/N: Ok I seriously doubt people actually read these, but to the people who do I am sorry that it took so long to update. First of all, every review I got for the Character Pairing poll asked for Naru/Saku. I will once again say that votes with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura will not be accepted since I already have a plan for these three. Another matter is if you cannot review and still want to participate in the poll feel please free to e-mail me at and make the subject Intertwined Destiny's Poll or something similar. The same rules as reviewing apply for e-mail and I will post the rules in my profile.

-----Streets of Konoha-----

The last thing Nara Shikamaru saw before he was forcibly removed off his feet was a flash of black and yellow. The next thing he knew he was on the floor with a familiar annoying blond on top of him. Now the young chunnin was already extremely irritated with chunnin duties cutting into his "Cloud Watching" time. Even so Shikamaru would admit that if the person on top of him was the loud annoying blond "female" that he knew he would not mind as much, he might actually enjoy it, but fate clearly did not want to obey his wishes. This is because the blond on top of him wasn't Ino but Naruto, loud, stupid, clumsy Uzumaki Naruto. Now being a guy he did not feel comfortable with Naruto being on top of him cutting off his circulation to very important areas. So Shikamaru did what any normal person would do, scream profanities that would make any sensible person around them drop dead.

"Naruto! What the do you think you're doing! Get the off me! Screamed out the lazy chunnin while, struggling to breathe.

The blond genin quickly jumps off his friend flashing a fox like grin, and scratching the back of his head as if that would solve this problem.

"Ah, I'm sorry Shikamaru I saw you two ahead of me and decided to call you guys, but I guess you guys didn't hear me because you kept on walking so I decided to run to catch up to you guys but I tripped off something and lost my footing and I started falling and then I tackled you and then I fell on top of you so um yeah….."

Shikamaru stares at Naruto wondering how the blond genin managed to say such a grammatically incorrect apology in one breath.

"Uh Naruto we heard your yelling, seriously I doubt anyone didn't hear you, we just didn't want to stop because it would have been too troublesome..."

Choji decides to change the topic. "So Naruto, when did you get back from your journey?"

"Um we got back this morning and then I met up with Sakura-chan and Iruka-sensei for ramen."

Shikamaru sighs at how predictable Naruto is, and Choji takes out another one of his non-ending supply of chips. (A/N: I find it funny how he never runs out of chips when they are not in a fight, but when he does start fighting the chips suddenly run out when he needs them most….)

Suddenly the ground starts to shake and a unique ninja in a green jumpsuit suddenly appears in a cloud of smoke. The ninja in question has a creepy bowl shaped hair cut and distinct bushy haired eyebrows that look like hairy black parasitic caterpillars. This unusual ninja is known as Rock Lee also known as the Leafs Proud Green Beast.

Lee goes into his good guy pose and flashes one of his extremely bright smiles which temporarily blind's all onlookers. "Naruto-kun! I have heard your voice from all the way across Konoha using my superior ninja hearing, and have rushed to meet my fellow comrade and welcome you back to our beautiful village! I am so overjoyed that you have returned from your Training Journey guided by the Power of Youth and one of the very honorable Legendary Sannin Jiraiya! Come we must at once make haste to the training grounds and discover which one of us has most improved from our training!"

Naruto stares at Lee speechless at the fact that he had just called his teacher "honorable".

Shikamaru deadpans wondering if Naruto's yelling is actually heard across the village and if it is even possible for eyebrows to get so bushy…

Choji blankly stares as Lee continues ranting about the "Power of Youth" and sweat drops at Lee's changing poses.

Naruto finally shakes his head at the thought of an "honorable" Jiraiya and decides to answer Lee. "I'm sorry Lee but I am on my way home to get some rest, maybe we can spar another time."

"Oh I am so sorry my eternal rival I have totally forgotten that you had just arrived today! Of course you should rest up and restore the Power of Youth. And while you are resting I will round up all of our wondrous friends so we can properly greet you tomorrow!" Lee finishes up with another good guy pose.

Choji and Shikamaru slowly inch away from the two hyper ninjas pretending they don't know them.

Naruto sweat drops at Lee labeling him his 'Eternal Rival' "_Damn I know I'm going to regret him saying that". _

"Uh ok Lee thanks…..so I guess I will see you all tomorrow"

Shikamaru slaps his forehead _"Great what did they get me into, this is too troublesome…"_

The group then heads off in their separate directions Naruto heading off to his apartment, Shikamaru and Choji head off to their favorite cloud watching hill and Lee speeds off to tell all their friends about Naruto's return.

-----In Front of Naruto's Apartment-----

Naruto lets a sigh of relief as he walks up to his apartment door. The hyper ninja was tired from his antics today and couldn't wait to fall asleep in his soft bed. After Tsunade became Hokage she made sure to get Naruto a new apartment that was actually habitable and ordered him new furniture. But it seemed that Naruto would not be able to get sleep anytime soon because fate had other plans for him.

You see in front of Naruto's door was a big "rock" with two eye holes. To a normal person this "rock" actually looked like the real thing. Most people would actually mistake it for the real thing if the eyehole was disregarded, except for one major detail. On the bottom of the "rock" green grass was painted on. Now this which would have fit in well in a forest but of course this was not a forest. No the "rock" was residing on the grey tiles of Naruto's apartment which meant the green grass was a dead giveaway.

Naruto sweat drops at the sight of such a poor camouflage technique. The blond genin mentally slaps his forehead, it was just his luck that his so called "subordinates" would come to meet him when he desperately needed rest. "_Damn, just my luck…… well at least the rock isn't a box anymore; it is an improvement….." _

Suddenly the "rock" pops open and fireworks start popping out along with black smoke. After the smoke clears away, three academy students by the name of Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon can be seen. The first thing Naruto notices is that all three of them are covered in a coat of black soot.

"Cough, Cough damn it! I guess releasing the fireworks while the top was still closed was a bad idea." says Konohamaru while coughing on the smoke.

After recovering from their coughing, the Konohamaru Corps start doing their little "intro pose thingy. However they abruptly stop when they notice Naruto is rolling on the floor laughing.

"Moegi goes red and starts pouting "Naruto-nee-chan why are you laughing at us!"

Udon decides to voice his opinion "Yeah that's not nice!"

Naruto stops rolling around laughing and answers them while trying to keep a straight face. "I'm sorry guys but you look hilarious covered in soot!" unfortunately he cannot keep a straight face for long and Naruto starts laughing again.

Annoyed at Naruto laughing at them the Konohamaru Corps leave while Konohamaru mutters profanities under his breath. After he stops laughing Naruto decides to go into his apartment. "_Maybe I was a little too mean laughing at them…meh it was funny." _

After navigating his way through the new bigger apartment, Naruto makes his way to his bed and instantly falls asleep.

-----Naruto's Dream-----

Sasuke is flying toward Naruto, his leathery wings propelling him at breakneck speed. A Chidori is blazing in the Avengers hand, tainted black by the power of the Cursed Seal. Demonic red chakra pours out of Naruto and he jumps toward Sasuke, in his hand is a Rasengan glowing red in from the corruption of the demon's chakra. The two demonic attacks connect with each other and the energies from the two attacks suddenly start pouring out creating a sphere of chakra around them. Naruto forces his Rasengan towards Sasuke's forehead hoping to knock him out while at the same time Sasuke thrusts the Chidori into his rival's chest. As the two attacks connect with their target, a blinding flash of light ensues and the world goes black.

-----Unknown Abyss-----

Suddenly Naruto finds himself engulfed in darkness. Everywhere around him as far as the eye can see was black mist. The black mist feels very thin and cold but the blond genin seems to have no trouble breathing. Never being the type to sit around and wait for something to happen Naruto takes a hesitant step forward and suddenly a white circle of light activates at his feet. The circle shoots up an aura of light and Naruto finds himself in a pillar of light. Suddenly two more pillars of light appear and from them emerges two very familiar people.

Inside the first one is Sakura with a determined look on her face. The white light shines gracefully on her face lighting up her emerald eyes. The second person is one that still brings up mixed emotions in Naruto. He feels regret for failing to bring him back, angry that he threw away the friendship that was so hard to build, despair for losing someone that was to him a rival, a friend and a brother. But most of all Naruto feels determined, determined that he will bring him back even if he to go to the ends of the world. He made a promise of a lifetime to both Sakura and himself, a promise that he would bring Uchiha Sasuke back no matter the cost.

Suddenly in the middle of the three teammates a black orb appears. The orb is pulsing with energy and electricity crackles around it. Inside the orb nine figures appear but only two of them are visible. The first is one that looks like an older version of Sasuke. He has the same hair and stoic expression on his face. His eyes however are different from Sasuke's. They are blood red with three commas circling the pupil, the famed Sharingan that Uchiha Itachi always keeps activated. The second figure is an immensely tall figure that looks like a cross between a shark and human. Hoshigaki Kisame is one of Seven Legendary Swordsman of the Mist. He wields a big sword covered in bandages called the Samehada.

Abruptly the Dark Orb starts expanding getting closer to the three pillars of light in a rapid pace. Immediately three separate beams of light shoot out of the three pillars and join into one, blasting into the Orb and slowing it down. Unfortunately the beam only slows down the orb and it continues to expand toward them. Then all of a sudden more pillars of light start forming all around Team 7 each of them holding a different member of the Rookie Nine and Gai's team. Beams shoot out from all the pillars and join into one big Beam that heads toward the Orb. Once the Beam and Orb make contact there is a flash of blinding white light and Naruto finds himself in a familiar room.

-----Kyuubi's Cage-----

Naruto finds himself in a large room with an even bigger cage inside it. The cage itself looks like a simple cage except for one little detail. Keeping the cake locked is a single seal in the middle of the gate. This little piece of paper has the power to trap and seal the most fearsome Demon ever known. A demon's whose very name shook terror into people's hearts. The captive of the seal is the Nine-Tails also knows as Kyuubi. Kyuubi was the demon that once destroyed whole villages with its power. With a sweep of its tail whole mountains would crumble and Tsunami's would rise. Now the Legendary Nine-Tails was trapped in a human cage, sealed in a boy he has grown to find very annoying…

Uzumaki Naruto was standing in front of Kyuubi's cage. Suddenly out of the darkness two glowing red eyes appear along with the Demons face. Now any normal person, even any ninja would pee in his pants and faint at the sight of the Nine-Tails. Of course Naruto wasn't an ordinary person. This is proven by how the Blond genin addresses the fearsome Demon.

"HEY! You stupid fox! What am I doing here again!"

"**Shut up you pathetic excuse for human! You monkeys should know your place, if I was still free I would teach you mud rats a thing or two….." **

"Well guess what you mangy, flea ridden fox your stuck here whether you like it or not!"

"**YOUR INSOLENCE WILL BE THE DEATH OF YOU BOY, SHOW SOME RESPECT TO THE GREATEST DEMON EVER KNOWN!"**

Naruto sticks a certain finger at the Demon. "Why should I your stuck inside that cage and I'm tired of you high and mighty attitude"

"**One day I will escape this damned cage and I will enjoy killing you very slooowly."**

"Hah! You can try, I'll kick your flea infested ass right back into this cage if I have to!"

At this comment the Kyuubi quietly seethes in anger.

"Okay I'll ask again what exactly am I doing here Fox?"

Considering that this is probably the politest Naruto will ever get Kyuubi decides to answer him.

"**Well Kit after that little dream you had, you just suddenly appeared…"**

"What! You saw what happened in my dream!"

"**Yes it gets boring in here and watching you scream for mercy in a nightmare is very enjoyable, especially the one from two weeks ago…"**

"But that dream was soooo scary, ALL the RAMEN in the entire world DISAPEARED!"

"…**idiot"**

"Well anyway Kyuubi what was that weird dream….I mean the first one is normal I have it every few days ever since……"

"**Yes I noticed, I don't think that was an ordinary dream though…. the people in the dark orb were without a doubt the Akatsuki, and the others around you were your friends. It seems that the two powers were struggling to defeat each other….."**

"I wonder what it means…oh well I'll just tell Ero-sensei about it later, for now I'm going back to sleep…."

As Naruto goes away and slowly drifts back to sleep, a faint whisper is heard…

"**Good night Kit…."**

-----The Next Day-----

Haruno Sakura is currently walking through the streets of Konoha. She is on her way to her best friend Ino's family flower shop. After hearing about Lee's plan to get all of their friends together to formally welcome back Naruto Sakura decided to buy flowers for the occasion. Arriving at the small shop she enters through the glass door.

Hearing a chime that signals that the front door is opened Yamanaka Ino looks up from her magazine. Working at the counter is very boring so Ino usually spends her time reading random things. Seeing her pink haired friend a smile appears in Ino's face.

"Hey forehead girl!"

"Hello Ino Pig."

"So, Sakura who are you buying flowers today?"

"Um since we're welcoming Naruto-kun back today I thought I would get him some flowers."

"Naruto-KUN huh? Is there something going on between you two?"

Sakura blushes a pink that matches with her hair. "Of course not, why would you say that Ino?"

"_**Hah! You see even Ino knows you like Naruto-kun!"**_

"_Shut up! I don't like him, I like Naruto! Wait I mean I like Sasuke!"_

"**_Muhahahah I knew it, you can't fool yourself…"_**

Seeing that Sakura is ignoring her Ino decides to get her attention. "Sakura!"

Sakura is snapped out of her inner battle. "Yes Ino?"

"What kind of flowers do you want?"

"Well since Naruto doesn't know anything about flowers I'll just get him orange tulips." (A/N: I know nothing about flowers and if tulips don't come in orange then pretend they do D)

"Heh your right that idiot wouldn't care if you gave him poison ivy he would still love it."

Ino then proceeds to make a bouquet out of orange and yellow flowers.

After packing up the bouquet and giving it to Sakura, Ino decides to leave with her to meet up with their friends but not before telling her parents of her plans.

"MOM, DAD I'M LEAVING TO GO OUTSIDE WITH SAKURA, TAKE OVER THE SHOP PLEASE, AND GOODBYE!"

Sakura sweat drops at Ino's loud goodbye.

"Okay Sakura lets go, first we should head over to the Nara house, that lazy bum Shikamaru is probably still sleeping.

The two friends walk out of the store and head off to torment everyone's favorite lazy shadow user.

-----Naruto's Apartment-----

Naruto was currently having one of his favorite dreams. His arms were stretched out in front of him as if he was reaching out for a bowl of ramen and he has a stupid grin on his face.

"Ahem Naruto-kun please wake up" says Rock Lee from Naruto's window sill bending over to see his rivals sleeping face.

Naruto slowly wakes up and opens his eyes. What he sees nearly gives him a heart attack…."AHHHH! EVIL MUTANT FUZZY CATERPILLARS FROM OUTER SPACE!" In an adrenalin rush Naruto quickly punches the "Caterpillars" and sends them flying out the window. Getting up from his bead he looks out the window to find Rock Lee sprawled on the floor with a bump on his forehead. Realizing that the "Caterpillars" were actually Rock Lee's eyebrows Naruto quickly apologies to Lee.

"Oh Lee I'm sorry for punching you, I thought you were EVIL MUTANT FUZZY CATERPILLARS FROM OUTER SPACE."

"It is okay my eternal rival I should not have surprised you like that, as an apology I will do 1000 lap around Konoha, and if I can't do that I will do 5000 one leg and arm pushups, and if I can't do that I will do……"

Naruto sweat drops and decides to get ready for the brand new day. After doing his morning rituals, getting changes, praying to the Ramen God, and eating a healthy bowl of ramen cereal, Naruto walks outside to meet up with Lee to find…him still doing his outrageous apology.

"And if I can't run to the Hidden Sand and back in 2 days I'll carve Gai-sensei's face into the Hokage monument…."

"Okay Lee enough already lets get going…….where are we going anyway?"

"I told everyone to meet us in Team 7's training area."

"Okay then lets go!"

The two genin head off to Team 7's training area.

A/N: Okay I originally planned to make this chapter twice as long, however with school and other things I got sidetracked. So instead I will post the second half in less then a week. In this chapter I tried to get the main plot started with Naruto's dream and his conversation with Kyuubi. Other then that it was just introducing a few more of the Genin and the Konohamaru Corps. Next chapter all the genin will be introduced and Naruto will get into a fight, can you guess with who?

Aside from that please vote on your favorite pairings, and review!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Naruto.

A/N: Ok sorry for the delay updating but school has been seriously cutting into my writing time. I am still going to be writing this story and hopefully updating every weekend though. Ok on to other matters, after updating last week I sign on to check my reviews and what do I see? I got two more reviews making a grand total of five. I think people are reading this story because the hits are around 200 but those aren't really accurate. So if you want me to continue this story please tell me what do you think of it, do you like it, did I make a major mistake? Please I need feedback to tell me what people think about this story any constructive criticism is welcome. Of course a mistake I made was disabling the anonymous reviews so if anyone tried to review and couldn't I'm sorry. Ok enough of my rantings and let's get to the story!

-----Team 7's Training Area-----

Our favorite Future Hokage and Konoha's Green Beast are making their way over a lush green hill and into Team 7's training area. The village of Konoha is very proud of their training areas and would frequently update and repair their training facilities and tend to their training areas. Team 7's training area is no exception. Even after many ninjas trained with destructive jutsu's (cough **Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu cough)**, stray jutsu's from spars blew up the terrain and Taijutsu training literary changed the landscape, the training area still looked new. It was this training field that Naruto and Lee were making their way through. The two hyper ninjas were making their way to a very special hill. On this hill is a monument that has the names of all ninjas killed in battle engraved on it. This is the hill that Hatake Kakashi visits every morning in honor of his late friend Uchiha Orbito, and to the annoyance of whoever is waiting for him.

It was on this hill that most of the members of the former "Rookie Nine" and Gai's Team were waiting. Absent from the group were Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru and of course Uchiha Sasuke. The first two mentioned were currently still in the village trying to get a certain Lazy Genius out of bed. Sasuke's location on the other hand is not known due to the fact that he abandoned the village two years ago in search for the power promised by a certain Sannin.

Naruto and Lee finally reach the waiting party and are welcomed by their friends. The first to welcome Naruto back is one of Naruto's old friends and prankster buddy back in the academy Inuzuka Kiba, and his now full grown dog Akamaru. Kiba has changed a lot in the two year time span. The dog user is has grown a lot and is solidly built giving him the look of a brawler, which is good considering most of his techniques focus on dealing heavy damage. Akamaru changed drastically in two years. He has grown from cute puppy to a formidable grown dog but he has not lost the cuteness in his face which girls adore.

"Hey Naruto! It's good to have you back buddy! Kiba gives Naruto a smack on the back to show his welcome. Akamaru also welcomes Naruto by licking his hand and Naruto pays him back by scratching the back of his ear.

"Thanks Kiba it feels great to see all of you again. And wow Akamaru you grew a lot since I last saw you.

Next to welcome Naruto back is Hyuuga Neji, who is now a chunnin and his cousin Hyuuga Hinata. Neji grew in size as well and is still taller then Naruto but not by a lot. However he has lost the girlish look that he had two years ago and replaced it with a cool, handsome face that tripled his fan club's members. Hyuuga Hinata changes are more noticeable. She traded in her heavy coat for a light jacket that shows of her lean figure. But the most noticeable change is the look of confidence on her face that replaced the former shyness.

Neji shakes Naruto's hand in a formal welcome. "Welcome back to Konoha Naruto. It is a pleasure that you have finally returned.

Hinata does a formal bow to welcome back Naruto. "It's nice to see you again Naruto-kun, I am so happy that you are back.

Slowly one by one the genin welcome Naruto back into their village.

However in another part of Konoha all hell breaks loose for Nara Shikamaru.

-----Shikamaru's House-----

Once arriving at Nara Shikamaru's house the two girls realize that Ino's prediction was correct. Shikamaru was still asleep in his bed, at one in the morning (this is probably normal for most of us BUT they are ninjas). Sakura and Ino quickly try to get the Genius Ninja to wake up but their efforts fail. Finally losing her temper Ino flips over the mattress causing Shikamaru to fall on the floor. After five more minutes of persuasion and threatening the two Konochi's convince Shikamaru to get ready. Unfortunately getting Shikamaru to the training fields is going to be more annoying then the girls first thought. Once Shikamaru exits the house he once again falls asleep on the front porch.

"SHIKAMARU! YOU LAZY IDIOT! GET UP THIS INSTANT!" Screams Ino.

The lazy ninja responds by rolling over to the other side muttering about psychopathic blondes.

Sakura finally loses her patience and goes through a set of hand seals. After she is finished a small black cloud appears over Shikamaru and promptly drenches him with water. Ino not wanting to be outdone also goes through some hand seals and summons a small bolt of lightning to shock the lazy-nin.

The effect of the combined jutsu's causes Shikamaru to first yell in surprise, then yelp in pain and finally start erratically twitching from the shock. However the lazy genius keeps on pretending to sleep.

The two female genin sweat drop at Shikamaru's stubbornness. Finally annoyed they decide to just drag the black, charred body of Shikamaru to the training field. Of course Sakura and Ino took the roughest path over stairs, rocks, a river, and they "accidentally" got lost dragged Shikamaru through the trap field.

-----Team Seven Training Field-----

"And then I used Kage Bunshin no jutsu to make five clones and I used Rasengan with all of them to blast that Jounin over 2 miles. And that's how I saved Ero-sennin and the Princess."

The genin and chunnin all sweat drop at Naruto's obviously over exaggerated story. Shino, now a chunnin, decides to be polite and question Naruto about his story. "…Naruto that was a good story….but what was the name of the princess again…?

"Uh….Princess Kiyoki….yeah that was her name and she was from uh…oh yeah Ramen Country!

All the genin and chunnin deadpan at Naruto's stupidness.

"Argh Naruto! How stupid do you think we are? I bet all of your stories are fake!" screamed Kiba.

"No they are not Dog-face…well I might have made up the princess but there is a Ramen Country!"

Once hearing Naruto's comment Kiba goes into a rage and tries to rip his head off. Hinata and Shino desperately try to hold off the dog user from attacking Naruto.

"Dog-face I'll show you dog-face! Let me go I will kill him and make Akamaru piss on his remains!"

"Hah you can try I'll beat you up so badly even Akamaru wont recognize you!"

"THAT'S IT! Naruto I challenge you to a fight right now!"

"Okay! I needed a fight anyway; kicking your ass will be a good warm up for me before I start training."

The two ninjas speed off to a clearing and commence their battle.

"Aww I wanted to be the first one to fight my eternal rival. Naruto's springtime youth is amazing, but I must not be defeated for I am Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast! I Rock Lee will do 1000 laps around Konoha with both my arms and legs tied if my eternal rival cannot win, and if I can't do the laps I will do 10,000……."

All the ninja's present slowly inch away from Rock Lee, pretending not to know the ninja in green spandex.

(This is my first attempt at writing a Fight Scene so I apologize before if it is horrible :D )

"Hah you won't be able to save yourself by farting this time, we will rip you to shreds right Akamaru?" says Kiba brashly pointing at Naruto.

"Ruff!" (Translates to YES!) Barks Akamaru

"Heh that fart all part of my brilliant scheme to win the battle…" Replies Naruto smugly.

"You're an idiot…." Mutters Kiba

The thought _"He is still such an idiot…"_ goes through everyone's mind.

Suddenly the two ninjas rush at each other and exchange a flurry of quick blows. Naruto tries to gain the upper hand by slide kicking Kiba. However the dog user quickly jumps up and kicks Naruto in the chest. Naruto catches one of Kiba's kicks and using the momentum swings Kiba into the ground. Suddenly a flash of white jumps at Naruto and Akamaru is seen biting Naruto in his left hand.

"Argh get off me you stupid mutt!" Naruto kicks Akamaru in an attempt to get the dog to let go but is punched in the back of his head by Kiba. Kiba's punch sends Naruto flying two feet away but the Naruto suddenly poofs in a cloud of white smoke and turns into a log.

"Kawamari no jutsu… where is he?" Kiba looks around but Naruto is nowhere to be seen.

"Looking for me?" says Naruto from a tree in the edge of the clearing. Naruto suddenly throws four shuriken at Kiba at high speeds. Smirking Kiba takes out a kunai in order to deflect the kunai coming his way.

Suddenly Naruto goes through a set of hand seals so fast that Kiba cannot even see the individual seals. "**Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" **The four shuriken flying at Kiba suddenly each split into 20 making the number of Shuriken now 80.

"Shit there's no way I can deflect them all…..I guess I'll have to use that technique even though I didn't practice it much…"

Kiba suddenly goes through a long set of hand seals. A split second before the shurikens reach him Kiba slams his hands on the ground. "**Doton Doryuuheki no jutsu" **Kiba spits a small amount of mud out of his mouth and the mud quickly transforms into a wall of mud that block all the shuriken.

Seeing that his shurikens were blocked Naruto jumps off the tree and runs toward Kiba with a speed that rivals Lee with his weights on. Kiba suddenly flicks a small soldier pill at Akamaru who promptly eats it and turns red. Kiba then goes through a familiar set of hand seals. Akamaru jumps on top of Kiba and the dog user finishes his jutsu. "**Juujuin Bunshin no jutsu!" **

A stream of smoke envelops Kiba and Akamaru and when it clears there are two Kiba's next to each other. Both Kiba's suddenly rush toward Naruto and engage him in battle. One Kiba throws a punch at Naruto's face which is caught by Naruto; however the second one slashes the blond genin in the back. Once again Naruto is replaced by a log and a second later Naruto kicks both of them in the face.

"_Wow Naruto-kun has gotten better…but so has Kiba-kun, so far the fight seems equal I wonder if Naruto-kun is holding back…?" _wonders Hinata.

"_Hmm Naruto still seems reckless in battle but his chakra control and speed has greatly improved… I wonder if it's all an act? Though Neji. _

Both Kiba's gets up from their fall and starts focusing chakra into their hands. Suddenly their claws start growing until they reach four inches in length. **"Nimpo ****Garou****souga no jutsu" **Thetwo Kiba's flex their new claws "Okay Scaredy-Cat its time to finish this". They both say at the same time.

Suddenly a look of shock appears in Naruto's face **_"…You alright Scaredy-Cat?..."_** the look of shock is quickly replaced by anger as the demon-vessel remembers his rival's words. Suddenly Naruto seems like a totally different person as all emotions are wiped off his face and are replaced by a serious look. "I am going to make you regret saying that…"

Naruto brings his hands together in his favorite hand seal "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" A stream of smoke envelops the whole clearing and when the smoke clears 50 Naruto clones can be seen.

-----With Sakura, Ino and Shikamaru----

At this moment Sakura, Ino and Shikamaru enter the clearing. Upon seeing the large smoke cloud and then the small Naruto army the three ninjas rush over to their friends to find out what's going on.

"What's going on? Who is Naruto fighting?" asks Sakura and Ino at the same time.

"Naruto is fighting Kiba because they got into an argument. The fight so far is very good since both of them seem evenly matched." Answers Ten-Ten a girl in a pink Chinese shirt and her hair in two buns.

"Tch that those two idiots cannot open their mouths without getting into a fight." States Shikamaru.

"Hey you finally decided to wake up! Why didn't you wake up sooner?" screams Ino pointing at Shikamaru.

The lazy ninja shrugs "Letting you two drag me was so much easier and requires less of an effort. Besides once we reached the trap field I switched myself with a rock clone I made and switched back when we were out…"

"Huh no wonder he seemed so heavy back their…..Shikamaru I'm going to kill you!" yells a red Sakura veins pulsing in her overlarge forehead.

Both Konochi's start beating Shikamaru up with large hammers that appear out of nowhere.

After they are done, basically when out favorite Lazy Genius resembles a bloody pile of meat (Sobs I'm sorry Shikamaru I couldn't help it, they made me type this, points at Sakura and Ino), everyone starts watching the fight again.

-----Naruto and Kiba's Fight-----

"Heh still using the same tricks huh?" Both Kiba's rush into the crowd of Naruto's and start to eradicate them with their new claws. One Kiba stabs a clone in the chest causing it to disappear then quickly slashes another that tried to stab him in the back. The second Kiba jumps up stabbing two clones in the neck and then spins in a circle making more clones disappear.

Seeing that his clones were being quickly turned into mincemeat Naruto quickly goes through a long set of hand seals. Slamming his hands onto the ground he yells out the techniques name. **"Daton Yomi no Muna no jutsu!"** a small swamp appears in the clearing trapping both Kiba's. "Okay now to finish this..." Naruto focuses chakra into the swamp and suddenly both Kiba's start sinking into the swamp.

"_Damn it I can't get out…it's already up to my arms" _Suddenly Kiba starts smiling. "You think that a little swamp will stop us?" Both Kiba's start rapidly spinning until they form a drill with their body. **"GATSUUGA!"** The two Kiba's cut through the swamp in the direction of Naruto cutting through everything in their path.

Seeing that his swamp is rendered useless Naruto releases the jutsu and prepares to counter the attacking twin drills. Suddenly Naruto jumps back a good ten feet and the ground under him cracks open. Three Naruto clones jump out and throw themselves in the path of the Gatsuuga. As the twin drills and the three clones meet the clones glow red and suddenly a large explosion follows throwing both Kiba's flying back thirty feet and hitting the ground very hard.

A/N: Okay the fight scene probably sucked but what can I say it was my first try. I guess it was very evil of me leaving a cliffhanger right in the middle of the fight but I have to cut the chapter here since I still did not finish my HW, yeah I know I'm very irresponsible. I will hopefully have then next episode out by next weekend so I guess everyone will have to wait until then. Please review and tell me what you think and BTW every vote I got for the Poll was for Naru/Saku so if you want anything different post your vote before it's to late.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Naruto.

A/N: Yes I know this chapter is very late and I don't really have any excuse other then I was being lazy. It seems that thanks to a messed up social life and school I can't seem to find any time to write anymore. Don't worry, I will still continue this fanfic but updates might not be weekly anymore. Okay to the pairings, since people don't feel like following the rules and I'm a nice guy I am now allowing pairings including team 7. Other rules still apply, no Yaoi, Yuri, and you can vote for the same pairing only once. So with the new rules the Statistics are:

Naru/Saku- 6

Kiba/Hina- 1

Neji/Ten- 1

Shika/Ino- 1

Hmm it seems Naru/Saku is winning well I'm hoping for that anyway. If you want a specific pairing please review and let's get to the story.

-----Team Seven's Training Area-----

After being blown back by the explosion both Kiba's hit the ground, hard. The force from the crash makes one of the Kiba's yelp in pain and turn back into Akamaru. After the initial impact knocks the breath out of him Kiba slowly staggers back up to his feet. The dog user is covered in soot and is favoring his left arm. Kiba's left arm has been burned and the left shoulder is lower then the right, possibly dislocated from hitting the ground. Kiba slowly turns around to see how much injury Akamaru has sustained. The dog in question seemed to have fared better then Kiba, his only injury being a broken paw and burnt fur.

Glaring at his blonde opponent Kiba decides that he wants some answers. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? HOW THE FUCK DID YOUR CLONES EXPLODE LIKE THAT!"

"Those weren't normal Kage Bunshin's..." states Neji his Byakugan activated.

"What do you mean Neji-kun, they looked like normal Kage Bunshin's to me, are you sure he didn't attach exploding tags to them? Asks Ten-Ten

"That blast was too big for normal exploding tags, and I didn't see any attached to the clones…" says Shikamaru.

"Yes Shikamaru is right when I was looking at the battle with the Byakugan I noticed that those three clones were different from normal Kage Bunshin's. Those Bunshin's had a very large and unstable amount of chakra inside them which means that they were made to explode on contact with the enemy."

"Heh I should have known you would have figured it out Neji." Says Naruto from behind the group.

Everyone quickly turns around to find Naruto behind them sitting on a tree branch and another Naruto still in the clearing.

"Don't worry I'm just a clone the real Naruto is still in the clearing. Well anyway the Jutsu he just used was **Bakuretsu Kage Bunshin**. It is a shadow clone that is made with a large amount of unstable chakra. Well it looks like the real Naruto is about to explain to Kiba what happened so I'll let you guys hear him out." The Naruto clone disappears in a puff of smoke.

-----Back with Naruto and Kiba-----

"Well Naruto why did those stupid clones explode like that?"

"Those were my Bakuretsu Kage Bunshin'sthey are Kage Bunshin's that explode when they make contact with the enemy." Replies Naruto.

"Well yeah I kind of figured that out but when did you create them? I didn't see you do any hand seals when we were about to use Gatsuuga on you…"

"Heh I created them when the smoke from my normal Kage Bunshin's covered the whole field. Then I had the clones dig under ground when I used Daton Yomi no Muna no jutsu so they were waiting under the swamp. Finally when you broke free of the swamp I released the jutsu and leaped back allowing the Bakuretsu Kage Bunshin's to jump out and intercept your attack."

"You had the whole fight planned out from the beginning….I underestimated you again Naruto…But that doesn't mean you won, we will keep fighting till we can't anymore right Akamaru?"

"Bark Bark Ruff!" (Translated to English it roughly means Hell yeah lets kick his ass!)

"No! Kiba-kun you are already injured, if you continue fighting you might seriously get hurt!" shouts Hinata.

"Don't worry Hinata I'll be alright, besides if I back out now I'd lose my dignity." Shouts back Kiba.

"Wow they are both so think headed…why are boys such numbskull?" wonders Ino shaking her head.

"They both want to prove how much they improved from their last battle so I don't think giving up is an option for any of them. Besides I think that whoever loses would rather be beaten head on then just give up when there is a chance that he could have won…" answers Choji while stuffing his face with never ending chips.

"It's amazing how much Naruto has improved since he left. Both Kiba and Akamaru have sustained serious injuries but Naruto barely has a scratch on him. And Naruto also had the fight planned from the beginning, he is probably holding back right now…" says Shino.

"_Wow I can't believe how much Naruto has improved in these two years. The old Naruto couldn't plan for his life but this new Naruto isn't even trying…How much stronger did you really get Naruto? _Wonders Sakura surprised at the improvement in her teammate.

Kiba slowly reaches back to his weapons pouch and takes out two soldier pills. After giving one to Akamaru and eating one himself the dog user clenches his teeth and pops his shoulder back into its socket. After a muffled groan of pain Kiba slowly goes through a set of hand seals.

"Lets finish this once and for all Naruto, no more holding back give me everything you got."

Finishing his hand seals Akamaru once again jumps on top of Kiba and the dog user shouts out his technique. "**Soutourou!" **Suddenly a huge stream of smoke envelops the Dog and Master and when the smoke clears a huge Double-Headed Wolf is seen in their place.

(Okay I don't remember if Kiba can talk when in this form so let's just assume he can)

"This is it Naruto it doesn't matter who wins or loses just don't hold back one me!"

"Okay Kiba this ends right now." Replies Naruto.

Suddenly both Ninjas (um actually one ninja and one big kick ass Double-Headed Wolf) rush toward each other. When they are both within 50 feet of each other they both start their attacks.

The huge Double-Headed Wolf starts spinning with tremendous force creating a massive drill that makes Gatsuuga look like a child's play thing. **"GAROUGA!" **

At the same time Naruto focuses chakra into his right hand spinning it in a compact sphere of rapidly spinning blue chakra called the Rasengan. As the huge drill gets closer Naruto jumps in head on and trusts the Rasengan right into it.

"**RASENGAN!" **

The impact of the two tremendous attacks causes a wave of swirling chakra to lash out. After a few seconds of struggling Naruto's Rasengan overpowers the Garouga and the Double-Headed Wolf is shot back, engulfed in a sphere of spinning blue chakra.

Having been defeated the dog user and his partner release their jutsu, and for the second time today Kiba and Akamaru find themselves being blown away from one of Naruto's jutsu's. Seconds before they hit the ground Naruto creates two more Kage Bunshin's to prevent any further damage to the duo.

All the spectators rush toward Kiba and Akamaru but before they reach him a flash of yellow and black speeds by and Naruto appears beside his friend. Once the group reaches the trio Sakura and Hinata step ahead to help the boys and dog with their wounds.

"Hey Sakura! Please help Kiba I think I went a little overboard with that Rasengan…"

Sakura hits Naruto on the head "YOU THINK! What were you thinking using the Rasengan on Kiba?"

The dog user slowly gets to a sitting position. "Its okay Sakura I wanted him to do it, I wanted to see how big the difference between us really was…."

"Argh both of you are such idiots, okay Kiba I need you to lie down while I heal your injuries."

"No first check on Akamaru if anything was to happen to him I…"

Hinata interrupts Kiba. "Don't worry Kiba-kun I will tend to Akamaru, let Sakura heal your wounds."

"T-thanks Hinata"

"Okay then lets get you fixed up" Warm green chakra forms around the medic-nin's hands and she begins to heal Kiba's injuries.

-----Hokage Monument-----

A dark figure slowly makes its way out of the shadows. Covered in a long black cloak, his appearance cannot be seen. The figure opens his eyes revealing glowing green eyes and unusual yellow insignias surrounding his pupils. Bringing a hand to his face, he brushes off a few strands of black hair revealing the bottom of his forehead protector.

"I know you're there please come out…"

Two more figures step out of the shadows. Both of them are dressed in black cloaks with a red cloud pattern. The dark figure turns his attention to the two Akatsuki members and green eyes meet red.

"It's nice to see you again Uchiha Itachi you to Hoshigaki Kisame."

"The Container of the Kyuubi has returned to the village….will you interfere with our objective?"

"If I am ordered to, then yes…"

Red eyes flash. "Do you think you would be able to beat both of us in a battle?"

Both green and red eyes stare at each other. "You should know Itachi-san power and abilities do not always determine the winner of a battle…"

"It seems you finally managed to master it didn't you?"

"That is for me to know and you to find out."

"I will look forward to seeing you again, until then please don't interfere with our mission…"

The two Akatsuki members disappear in a cloud of smoke leaving the dark figure alone on top of the Hokage Monument. Moments later the figure flashes out of view leaving no trace of the meeting.

-----Team Seven's Training Area-----

After Kiba and Akamaru are healed everyone heads off to where they are needed. After last goodbyes and threats (Naruto gloating at Kiba) Sakura and Naruto find themselves alone. Lying down on the grass Naruto decides to ask Sakura a question.

"Hey Sakura-chan wasn't today the day Kakashi-sensei said to meet him here?"

"Oh yeah Naruto I forgot all about that."

"Well since we killed some time how much more time is their till he gets here?"

"Well according to the Lateness schedule we all recorded together about two years ago, judging from the sun and the position of the shadows he should be here… right about now!"

A cloud of smoke suddenly appears and the Copy-nin appears exactly where Naruto is lying down.

"Hey Sakura I'm glad you remembered about our training today….wait where's Naruto?"

"Um sensei you're standing on him…" Sakura points at Naruto who has Kakashi's feet jammed in his stomach and chest.

"Oh I was wondering why the ground felt weird…I'm sorry Naruto." Kakashi jumps off his student.

Sakura sweat drops.

"Oww Kakashi- sensei! What kind of Jounin are you can't you watch where you land?"

"Ah sorry Naruto I didn't notice you."

"So how come you didn't land on Sakura?"

"Because I didn't want to injure her" Kakashi cringes his visible eye in a smile.

"ARGH I'm going to kill you!"

Kakashi brings his pointer finger to Naruto's forehead to prevent his student's random punches from reaching him.

Bringing out two familiar bells the copy-nin shows them to his students. "So how about we see how much you two have improved?"

A/N: Okay Naruto and Kiba's fight is done, I know its very cliché but I wanted to show how much Naruto has improved. One of my original characters is introduced in this chapter, don't worry this story will only have a few OC's. A little more of the plotline is shown in the confrontation of the "OC" and Itachi, see if you can figure out what they are talking about. Next chapter will be Kakashi's second bell test and for those of you who read the manga it will be VERY similar to the manga. Thanks for reading and please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Naruto.

A/N: Yes I know this chapter is extremely late, and to all of you that follow this fanfic I am sorry. Due to personal problems and the fact that I am grounded means that I will not be able to update this story regularly. However I will continue working on "Intertwined Destiny's" and I am writing chapters whenever I do feel creative enough so when I am finally ungrounded expect to see a lot of delayed updates. Ok back to topic since most people do not seem to vote for anything else other then Naru/Saku I have decided on the pairings myself. The pairings will be Naru/Saku, Shika/Ino and slight Neji/Ten and Kiba/Hina. Naru/Saku and Shika/Ino are personal favorites of mine so those should be easy enough to write about. Neji/Ten and Kiba/Hina are going to be a little harder but ill se what I can do.

-----Team Seven's Training Area------

Kakashi takes out two bells and jingles them together. "So lets see how much you two have improved…"

Smiling Naruto and Sakura get up from the ground. Reaching into her back pocket Sakura takes out two black gloves and puts them on. Naruto tightens his headband and dusts some dirt off his pants.

Clipping the bells back onto his weapon pouch Kakashi takes out a small timer and places it on a log. Then copy-nin flips back a couple of feet and takes a defensive position. "Okay same rules as last time, you have until the timer runs out. Remember come at me with a killer intent if you plan on taking a bell…"

With a gust of wind both Naruto and Sakura disappear from view.

**------Kakashi's POV-----**

"_Good it seems they both learned how to hide their presences better…at least Naruto isn't attacking head on like before." _Feeling a presence behind him Kakashi turns around to see Naruto charging at him head on with a kunai. Kakashi sweatdrops _"maybe I spoke to soon…" _

Allowing Naruto to come within arms reach Kakashi grabs Naruto's wrist snapping it to one side and forcing the kunai out of his hand. Then using the genin's own leverage the copy-nin throws his student face first into the ground. Where the "Naruto" promptly pops into a cloud of smoke.

"…_shit"_

The moment the kage bunshin hit the ground, as many as fifty projectiles from all direction shoot out of the trees. All of these kunai's, shurikens, sebons and other weapons all speed toward one target, Kakashi.

Pulling off one of his legendary escapes the copy-nin replaces himself with a log a second before the projectiles turn him into a human porcupine. Landing twenty or so feet away Kakashi decides to intercept his student before he is allowed to make anymore traps.

Taking out a scroll Kakashi uses a kunai to make a small cut on his thumb. Then opening up the scroll he wipes off the blood on the scroll. Rolling up the scroll back to its former form Kakashi then goes through a complicated series of hand seals in conjunction with the scroll. Once finished with the seals Kakashi crouches down and slams his hand onto the ground.

Except that his hands never actually made contact with the ground. Seconds before Kakashi went to finish his summoning a pair of hands erupt out of the ground and grab onto his ankles.

**"Doton Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!" (Inner Decapitation Skill) The arms then pull the surprised Kakashi into the ground up to his chin while another Naruto pops out of the ground. **

**"Sakura-chan now!"**

**Sakura jumps out of a nearby tree and dives right at her sensei with her fist. **

**Sensing that his life might be severely shortened if he didn't do something, Kakashi charges up a small Chidori destroying the clone holding him captive and effectively blowing up the ground around him. **

**Once again Kakashi barely dodges an attack from one of his students by flipping backwards onto his hands thus dodging Sakura's punch of doom.**

**-----Sakura's POV------**

**"Yes Naruto's got sensei trapped!" Smiling the pink haired genin prepares to make her entrance. **

**"Sakura-chan now!"**

**Concentrating chakra onto her feet Sakura jumps head on straight at her sensei. Then concentrating chakra into her fist the Hokage's Apprentice prepares to do what she like to do best. **

**"_Heh Kakashi-sensei if you can't dodge this its going to take Tsunade-sama awhile to put your nose back together." _**

**Blue electric-like chakra emanates from Kakashi's hand as he blows up the terrain below him.**

**A smile appears on Sakura's face. _"Heh he fell for it!"_ **

**As expected Kakashi dodges Sakura's initial attack by flipping back and landing on his hands. **

Sakura blurs past Kakashi and her fist hits the ground. Upon hitting the ground Sakura releases all the chakra compressed in her fists. Sakura's punch causes a crater to form from the impact. From the epicenter of the collision a network of spider-web like cracks form in the surrounding ground. A second later the whole clearing explodes as rocks are blown apart and the ground is ripped open.

**-----General POV-----**

Kakashi once again performs **Kawamari-no jutsu **to save himself from being crushed under a slate of rock. After relocating to a "safer" spot the Jounin jumps form one overturned rock to another to get away from the mini earthquake. After putting what he hoped was a safe distance between the medic-nin and himself the copy-nin decides to catch his breath.

"I guess I cannot afford to underestimate you two any longer…" Kakashi brings his right hand to the left side of his face. He slowly removes his headband off his left eye revealing the Legendary Sharingan that gave him his nickname as well as his array of jutsu's. Scanning his surroundings Kakashi gazes at the trees surrounding the clearing.

"_Hmm impressive Naruto surrounded the whole clearing with over a thousand clones, that's why he was able to set up all those projectiles. It also seems that the blockade of clones is meant to prevent me from exiting the clearing so they can keep track of me." _

"Okay then if I can't get through normally I guess I just have to force my way through."

Kakashi dashes forward at an unthinkable speed toward the forest. Seeing that her sensei is escaping Sakura begins to chase after him.

Once Kakashi reaches around 50 feet away from the edge of the clearing Naruto clones start popping into existence as an attempt to intercept the Jounin. Kakashi goes through a set of hand seals and slams his hands onto the ground. "**Doton Itadaki no jutsu!**" (Earth Spikes) the ground starts to shake and ten to twelve spikes made out of earth pop out of the ground impaling the clones.

Kakashi looks up at the thick foliage "Heh you're going to have to do better then that Naruto."

A blonde figure dressed in black jumps out of trees in front of the copy-nin. Smiling Naruto raises one hand and waves at his sensei. "Heh I should have known I wouldn't be able to hide from you Kakashi-sensei."

"Naruto you have really improved, you can manipulate your clones to an extent that even most Jounin's cannot. However that is all you have done so far don't tell me that's all you learned in theses past two years?"

"No fair sensei of course I learned other things but I like annoying people with my clones. Well I guess we will just have to show you how much we improved."

Sakura jumps in behind Kakashi "ok sensei no more playing around its time to finish this, right Naruto?"

"Yeah let's go!"

Both genin attack Kakashi at the same time. Naruto rushes forward and attempts to punch Kakashi head on while Sakura jumps up and aims a kick to the Jounin's head. Kakashi spins around and grabs Sakura by the ankle and throws her at Naruto direction then throws a couple of shuriken at them both. Naruto jumps in front of Sakura and uses a kunai to deflect the shuriken while Sakura goes through a set of hand seals "**Chakra Enjintou!" **a green aurasurrounds Sakuras hands.

Sakura dashes forward and swipes at the Jounin with her hands. Kakashi jumps back and attempts to sweep kick the medic-nin. Sakura jumps over Kakashi's kick and grabs his right shoulder with her hand. A jolt of pain goes through Kakashi's body and the Jounin finds that he cannot move his right arm anymore. _"Shit Sakura disabled my right arm preventing me from using any more jutsu's, I guess I have to resort to taijutsu for now…" _

Kakashi jumps back away from Sakura however he is quickly pursued by Naruto. Naruto puts his hands in a familiar hand seal while running "**Kage Bunshin no jutsu!**" around thirty clones materialize around the Genin. All the clones attack Kakashi at once attempting to overpower him in numbers. The copy-nin jumps on one of the clones shoulders and kicks it on the back of its head. Then he jumps off of it and kicks two more in the face. Kakashi then back flips to dodge a swipe from a kunai and spins on his hand successfully kicking seven more out of existence.

One clone however manages to get through Kakashi's defense and kicks him in the stomach and boosts him into the air. Four more clones kick him further up and three more punch him even further. The original Naruto jumps over Kakashi and attempts to kick him in his stomach and drive him into the ground "**Naruto Redan!**"

Moments before Naruto finishes his combo Kakashi once again replaces himself with a log and reappears over Naruto. He then grabs the genin's arms, locking them behind him and drives him into the ground. However Naruto replaces himself with a log and reappears behind him a blue **Rasengan** spinning in his hand. Kakashi grabs Naruto's wrist pushing it to the side and kicking the genin in his chest. Then using his leverage Kakashi jumps off Naruto's chest right into the direction of Sakura.

"Oh crap…"

A glint of determination shines in the Hokage's Apprentice's eyes as she drives her fist into Kakashi's chest and sends her sensei flying into the ground. Kakashi hits the ground, hard, and rolls a couple of feet away. After lying back for a few seconds the Jounin slowly gets back to his feet. Looking up he sees both his students in front of him, both genin smile and wave at the copy-nin while showing off two golden bells.

"So you both managed to get a bell, why am I not surprised…anyway when did you both get the bells?"

"Well I got mine when you dodged my first punch since you were to distracted with dodging the rocks." Replies Sakura smiling and flashing the victory sign with her hand.

"And I got mine when all my clones attacked you at once and pushed you into the air." adds Naruto.

Kakashi realizes his own mistake _"I lost my focus on keeping the bells safe and instead put all my attention into fending off their attacks."_

Naruto starts jumping up and down "So Kakashi-sensei what do you think, did we pass?"

"Yes you both pass excellent teamwork you two, you both improved tremendously these past two years."

"Yes! Naruto we did it!" Sakura jumps up and gives Naruto a hug causing the blonde genin to blush.

"Ahem…"

Both genin suddenly jump back their faces flushing red.

"Anyway if both of you got the last bell after Naruto swarmed me with clones why did you continue attacking me Sakura?"

"Heh think of that as payback for all the times you've been late sensei!" replies Naruto and Sakura at the same time.

A/N: Ok finally chapter six is done hope you all enjoyed it. I was originally going to keep the bell test the same as the manga but rereading that chapter I found the ending kind of stupid. Anyway hopefully I will get the next chapter out sometime this month but I cannot promise anything, until then please Review!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Naruto.

A/N: Okay since I felt bad about the slow updates I decided to release the beta of Chapter Seven. This update has not been fully proofread and will be revised when I have time. I have noticed that my plotline has been very slow so I will try to get the main plot started in this chapter and hopefully start the Arc I have been planning out. One last thing is anyone interested in being a BETA reader for this story. I need someone to proofread chapters and revise mistakes and errors I might have overlooked. If your interested e-mail me at **f o r e v e r z e r o (at) h o t m a i l . c o m** .

**Revised and Updated 11/27/05**

-----Konoha Village-----

The last rays of golden sunlight are replaced by the silver strands of moonlight as a cool night sky envelops the Hidden Village of Konoha. The cool brisk wind flows into a bedroom window blowing the curtains apart. Uzumaki Naruto closes the window and then falls back onto his bed, arms stretched out behind him supporting his head. A look of sincere content can be seen on the young genin's as he recalls the events following the bell test.

-Flashback-

"Yippee! Sakura-chan we passed!" Naruto grabs both of Sakura's hands and he immediately starts spinning her around in circles.

"Heheheh Naruto s-stop" giggles Sakura trying to stop her excited teammate.

"Aww you two make such a cute couple! Naruto I have two extra tickets to the premiere of 'Come Come Paradise' if you want to take Sakura on a date" says Kakashi picking fun at his two students.

In a blink of an eye both genin's were suddenly five feet away from each other, their faces flushing red and their attentions focused on the interesting landscape around them, or what's left of it.

"Okay since you both did so well on the test how bout I take you guys out to dinner?"

At the mention of free food Naruto's attention quickly snaps back into attention. "Dinner! Yay come on lets go to Ichiraku!"

"Um how about we have something other then ramen, Naruto?" questions Kakashi

"WHAT! No Ichiraku? No fair! Sakura-chan you want to eat ramen too, right?"

Sigh- "Naruto I agree with Kakashi-sensei we should eat something other then ramen."

"Nooo you're all against me!"

"Ok then its settled how about we go to that BBQ restaurant that they recently opened?

"Ok sensei" replies Sakura

"…" replies Naruto

Sakura and Kakashi walk back toward the village, a devastated Naruto slowly trudging behind them.

-----Twenty minutes later, BBQ Restaurant-----

The newly reinstated Team Seven was currently seated at one of the Restaurants many comfortable booths. The Restaurant was small quaint place that was nice and warm due to the many open BBQ pits in each booth.

Naruto and Sakura were sitting on one side of the booth and Kakashi across from them. The copy-nin was currently cooking their food as the three of them shared stories of their experiences in the past two years.

While Naruto and Sakura were immersed in a conversation concerning Sakura's first experience as a medic-nin, Kakashi expertly pops a piece of cooked meat into his mouth without anyone noticing, or so he thought.

-----Outside BBQ Restaurant-----

Hiding in the shadows near the window is a random shinobi with a camera poised to take pictures of Kakashi. When Kakashi pulls down his mask to eat the BBQ meat the shinobi quickly takes a snapshot.

"Hehe the Kakashi-fans would pay millions of dollars for the 'ONLY PICTURE OF KAKASHI'S FACE'!"

Giggling in glee the random ninja waltz off to develop the 'ONLY PICTURE OF KAKASHI'S FACE'.

-----Back to Naruto and Co. -----

"So Naruto how did you spend your last birthday with Jiraiya? I hope he didn't make you train on your special day" questions Sakura casually.

"U-hh why do you ask Sakura-chan?"

"No reason I guess I just wanted to know, wait is there something you're not telling me?"

Naruto suddenly finds his napkin very interesting… _"I can't let her know she would kill me…but I can't lie to her either…"_

Bringing his attention to Sakura Naruto prepares to answer her. "Um well last October Jiraiya took me to a brothel claiming I was 'of age' and saying that I needed to refine my sexy no jutsu…."

"YOU WHAT! You went to a brothel on your birthday!" screamed Sakura wielding what suddenly seemed very dangerous eating utensils.

"Wa-wait Sakura-chan nothing happened it turns out that the brothels in Mist Country didn't even allow anyone under 16 to enter so Jiraiya was forced to get me something else instead"

"Oh and I suppose he took you to some sleazy bar instead huh?"

"No surprisingly Jiraiya said that the brothel was just one of my presents and since 'the best present he could give to a boy my age' was ruined he decided to buy me some custom weapons"

This caught Kakashi's attention "What kind of custom weapons Naruto?"

"Um a few weighted Kunai and Six pointed Shuriken but he did get me something special…"

Sakura was apparently out of her "kill Naruto" mode and a special custom weapon for Naruto caught her attention "Well what kind of special weapon did he give you, a Katana?"

"Nope not a Katana, maybe I'll show you when we spar sometimes, I still can't use it well yet..."

"Hmm it's not a Katana huh, then I guess it's not an ordinary ninja weapon…oh well Naruto, Sakura the food is ready."

Kakashi places the plates onto the center of the table. Each person then helps themselves to their share of the food.

Naruto splits his chopsticks apart and brings a piece of meat to his lips. He suddenly stops and looks at his teacher expectantly. "Hey Kakashi-sensei aren't you going to eat your food."

Seeing what Naruto was trying to accomplish Sakura joins in the ruse. "Yeah sensei you must be hungry after the Bell Test."

"Yes you are both right I am hungry…" Kakashi takes his chopsticks and splits them in half with one hand while his other hand grasps the top of his mask. Slowly the copy-nin starts easing the mask down while both genin's stare at him with hungry looks on their faces. Suddenly Kakashi stands up and points behind them a look of immense surprise and excitement on his face.

"Oh my god! Both of you look behind you, Jiraiya and Tsunade-sama are making out!"

Both Sakura and Naruto jump up and turn around expectantly. The excitement is wiped of their faces as all they see is an empty booth behind them. Turning back the looks of disappointment are quickly replaced by horror as they both see the sight before them.

Kakashi is neatly folding up a used napkin and places it back on the table. His plate is wiped clean of all food and the mask is still on his face. "Ahh that was a very good meal…" Looking up Kakashi notices Naruto pointing at him accusingly.

"Is their something wrong Naruto?"

"Y-You tricked us...and we fell for it…."

"Huh I have no idea what you are talking about." replies Kakashi

"You said that Hokage-sama and that Perverted Hermit were making put right behind us! Yells Sakura shaking her fists at the Jounin.

"Oh my mistake, I could have sworn that I saw them….anyway I had a good time today but I have to leave because of a mission I have tomorrow."

"Oh no you don't!" yells Naruto and Sakura at the same time. However the elusive Jounin has already disappeared in a cloud of smoke leaving only a check to float down onto the table.

-----In a Darkroom-----

"Yes once I develop this photo I will sell it to the highest bidder and become the richest person in Konoha!" schemes the Random shinobi.

Using a pair of tongs to take the photo out of the development fluid (I have no clue how pictures are developed so I don't know if this is how it's done) the Random ninja places the picture on a tray to dry. Once the picture starts to appear the Random shinobi holds it up expectantly.

"At last the 'ONLY PICTURE OF KAKASHI'S FACE' is finally complete! W-what h-h-how noooooo it's impossible!"

The picture is fully developed and we can see Kakashi sitting in the booth, chopsticks poised to place a piece of meat into his mouth. However where his face should be is a red circle with a slash. (Like the one in the back of the "Icha Icha Paradise book)

"This cannot be happening….he must have used some kind of jutsu….no matter I still saw his face, I can get an artist to sketch it out for me!"

Turning around the Random shinobi starts prancing toward the exit. However he slips on some spilled liquid on the floor and bangs his head on the counter, knocking himself out. One hour later the Random shinobi is diagnosed with acute memory loss.

-----Outside of the BBQ Restaurant-----

After admitting defeat and finishing their meal, which Naruto had to admit was pretty good but nothing compared to his godly ramen, both genin's prepared to go their separate ways.

Stretching both his arms up high Naruto lets out a big yawn. "Ah that was a good meal, but to bad we couldn't see Kakashi-sensei's face right Sakura?"

"…"

Turning around the blond genin faces his teammate and friend. "Hey Sakura-chan out alri-"

Naruto is cut off by a sudden hug from Sakura. After what seemed like eternity in heaven to Naruto, actually a few seconds, Sakura steps back and turns around, hiding her face from view.

"I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun it's just that watching you these last few days made me realize how much I really missed you…"

"Um I missed you too Sakura-chan…"

"…Well I have to get going now, it's nice to have you back Naruto…"

Before Naruto could reply Sakura disappears in a flurry of Sakura petals.

"Damn it does except me know how to do that?" Making up his mind to get the Perverted Hermit to teach him a "flashy exit", Naruto heads back to his apartment.

-End Flashback-

Naruto closes his eyes, a smile on his face as he slowly drifts off to sleep.

-----Dark Bedroom-----

A figure sits at the edge of a bed quietly sobbing. In her hands are two photos, one of a scowling boy with raven black hair and onyx eyes wearing a blue shirt and white shorts. The second photo is of a blond boy wearing an orange jumpsuit and a pink haired girl wearing a red dress. They are sitting on a ledge staring at the sunset. Both of them are holding between them a battered headband with a slash horizontally through the center.

Brushing a few strands of pink hair away from her face Sakura wipes her tears with the back of her hand. Then placing the two photo's on the table next to her bed the confused teen slowly drifts to sleep.

----- Following Morning, Hokage Tower -----

**Caution: Spoiler Alert, Chapter 282**

Due to some very important news the Hokage has called for a meeting with the former Jounin's of Teams 7 through 10 and Jiraiya. Tsunade, Kurenai, Asuma, Gai and Shizune are currently waiting in the Hokage office for the last two members called for the meeting.

Asuma takes out a cigarette and hastily puts it back when he is met with a double death glare from Tsunade and Kurenai. "Jeez waiting for those two is bad enough but I can't even have a smoke?"

"Smoking is very bad for you Asuma but I agree with you on the other matter. The lateness of those two is most embarrassing especially that of my rival. It must be my fault for not emphasizing the importance of being on time. Oh I am so ashamed at my incompetence and as self punishment I will do 10,000 no arm pushups and if I can't do that I will do 50,000……."

By this time all other members in the room have already placed earplugs in their ears to block out Gai's ranting.

A poof of smoke signals the arrival of Kakashi carrying a very 'hung over' Jiraiya. "Sorry I'm late I found Jiraiya here collapsed in front of the tower so I had to stop and take him with me."

"Well that would explain the situation if you were five minutes late but not **TWO HOURS LATE**!" in her anger Tsunade smashes her desk in half sending papers and all sorts of office supplies flying through the air.

Shizune tries to calm the angry woman down "Calm down Tsunade-sama that's the fourth desk this week…"

"Agh Tsunade would you mind not screaming so loud I have a killer headache…"

Sighing Kurenai grabs Jiraiya by the ear and drags him toward Tsunade "Tsunade-sama I think you should give Jiraiya some medicine to relieve him of his…hang over…"

A dangerous glint appears in Tsunade's eyes "I have the perfect solution to you problem Jiraiya…" suddenly Tsunade punches Jiraiya on the head and sends him flying through a wall.

All the Jounin members of the room flinch at the sight of Tsunade's "medicine".

After Shizune wakes up Jiraiya and gives him some real medicine to relieve him of his headache the Hokage begins the meeting.

"I have called you all here today because of some recent information that I have received. Some of our spies and ANBU reconnaissance has revealed that Orochimaru has once again become active. You all remember what happened the last time Orochimaru decided to attack Konoha and this recent activity might mean that he is planning to try and attack again. A report from a recent ANBU scouting has pinpointed Orochimaru's location to the Hydra Marshes (I still regret giving this place such a lame name…)."

Tsunade points to a map of the territories of Sound and Fire. South of the Valley of the End is a large area of swampland labeled the Hydra Marshes.

"'This area is known for its poisonous creatures and the toxic fumes released from the swamps. Thanks to a sample that Jiraiya managed to retrieve I have developed a tonic that will neutralize the poisonous fumes thus allowing us to enter the Hydra Marshes."

Kakashi raises his hand (heh this is starting to sound like a College lecture) "Hokage-sama I assume that you are planning on sending us into the Hydra Marshes?"

"Correct, each of you and your former students will be given separate missions all taking place in the Hydra Marshes."

"But Hokage-sama wouldn't it be wiser to send teams of Jounin's or ANBU instead of Chuunin's and five Jounin's?" (Reading chapter 282 of the manga revealed that Neji is a Jounin and everyone but Naruto is a Chuunin. Due to this new information I will change Neji to a Jounin in this story but keep Sakura a Genin for my own reasons.)

"Yes that might be true but I cannot risk sending ANBU or too many Jounin's incase Orochimaru attacks while they are gone. Anyway I have extreme confidence in all of your abilities and your former students have all proved that they are not to be underestimated."

Tsunade takes out four sealed folders and hands them out to the Jounin.

"These are your mission briefings be sure to report them to your teammates. Kurenai your team's mission is to infiltrate the Hidden Village of Sound and find any information regarding Orochimaru's plans."

"Asuma your team will be attacking various Sound encampments; I want you to interrogate anyone that may have information sabotage and way that the Sound may be communicating with each other."

"Kakashi your team will be aided by Jiraiya and you will both serve as team commanders. Gai your team will also participate in this mission. Your mission is to infiltrate Orochimaru's main base and plant exploding tags in key targets to maximize the damage. The goal is to wipe out as much of Orochimaru's forces as you can. After the initial explosion you may exterminate any surviving ninja's you encounter. However if you encounter Orochimaru I want both teams to immediately retreat."

Stopping Tsunade bring her attention to the Copy-nin "Kakashi if it so happens that you come across Uchiha Sasuke I want you to first try and convince him to return with you. If he resists I want you to kill him…"

Closing his eye Kakashi lets out a sigh "…I understand Tsunade-sama…"

"Very well you all have until tomorrow afternoon to prepare; all four teams will be leaving at 2200 hours (I hope that this is 10 PM military time)."

Everyone nods their head in agreement.

"Ok good luck you are all dismissed"

All the Jounin disappear in their own "flashy exits" leaving Jiraiya alone with Tsunade.

"Kill Sasuke if he resists…do you think Sakura and Naruto will allow that?"

"I have no choice Uchiha Sasuke betrayed Konoha and went off to learn from Orochimaru, he could serve as a major threat to Konoha…"

"I agree but I don't think it will be that easy, Naruto and Sakura promised themselves they would bring him back…"

Sigh- "…I know but I have no choice…I want you to take them away if Kakashi is forced to kill Sasuke, watching a teammate die is something no one should have to see no matte how much wrong he has done.."

"Ok but have you considered Kakashi's feelings on the matter?"

"Yes, no doubt killing Sasuke will bring back memories for him, lets all hope the need to doesn't arise…"

A/N: Hmm I think this may be my longest chapter yet. Anyway I wanted to try something new so I used Naruto's flashback to show what happened after the Bell Test. I hope the Naruto Sakura moment wasn't too corny, you might have figured out from that scene that I'm not to good with intimate scenes. By the way the "Random Ninja" thing was totally not planned out it was just a scenario that appeared in my head and I couldn't get rid of it so I decided to add it. For all of you that are confused the "Dark Bedroom scene is about Sakura crying while holding a picture of Sasuke and another picture of Naruto and herself. This is supposed to symbolize her confusion because she used to "love" Sasuke but now she isn't to sure. I will try to get the next chapter out soon so until then Review!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Naruto.

A/N: Ok after a hectic week of studying and finals I finally found the time to write another chapter. I am sorry for the inconsistent updates but schoolwork has kept me too busy to spend time on this fanfiction. After a period of writer's block I have been re-inspired by the healing powers of a full nights sleep! So because of my newfound ability to stay awake for more then five minutes I have written my longest chapter yet. This chapter will serve as a transition into the main plotline and the long awaited battles.

-----Naruto's Dream-----

Uzumaki Naruto is swimming in what seems to be an endless "sea" of Ramen. He is wearing an orange version of the Hokage outfit with the Leaf symbol replaced by a bowl of ramen. Floating on his back Naruto slowly drifts along with the endless amount of noodles and a wide variety of ingredients.

Suddenly the calm still "sea" starts to shake violently as waves swell up and thunder clouds block out the sun. The waves thrash into Naruto and as he struggles to keep his head out of the raging broth his legs get tangled in multiple strands of noodle. The deafening clap of thunder overhead slowly starts to form into comprehendible words and Naruto hears a familiar voice calling out his name.

"Naruto, Naruto wake up!"

-----End Naruto's Dream----

Naruto suddenly wakes up and find's himself in his bedroom. Shaking his head to wake himself up Naruto tries to recall what happened in his dream.

"_I was dressed in my version of the Hokage outfit and I was swimming in a sea of ramen…but then waves formed and a thunderstorm started….wait I also heard a familiar voice…"_

A series of knocks coming from the front door captures Naruto's attention.

"Naruto wake up we have a mission!"

"Oh! Kakashi-sensei!"

Quickly getting up and using his refined ninja techniques Naruto dresses himself in record speed. Then racing to the door Naruto swings the door open. Naruto finds Hatake Kakashi leaning lazily against the door frame while reading his perverted book. Pausing from his reading Kakashi looks up to see his student looking up at him expectantly.

Kakashi raises one hand in a laid back wave. "Yo"

"Good Morning Kakashi-sensei what are you doing here so early, do we have a mission?"

"Early? Naruto it's Ten in the morning…and I came to tell you that we have an important mission today."

The news on a new mission quickly grasps Naruto's attention.

"Important mission…wait has there been any new information on Sasuke?"

Looking up from his book Kakashi sighs. "Calm down Naruto I will explain everything once we get to the Old Bridge. Meet us there in exactly 30 minutes… oh and before you leave be sure to brush you teeth."

Blushing Naruto covers his mouth with his hand. "Uh sorry I knew I forgot something…"

"Ok I suggest you eat breakfast and I will see you in half an hour."

With a final wave Kakashi pops out of existence in a cloud of smoke.

-----Sakura's House-----

Haruno Sakura steps out of her bathroom, already changed into her standard ninja outfit. Stepping in front of her mirror Sakura starts to comb her hair, running the comb through her bubblegum pink hair.

'Ding Dong'

Downstairs Sakura hears the doorbell ring and seconds later hears her mother's voice.

"Sakura, Kakashi-san is here to see you!"

"_Hmm sensei's here; we must have a mission…"_

Stepping into her combat boots Sakura pulls on her black gloves. Then brushing a few strands of pink hair out of her face she fastens her forehead protector onto her head. Walking toward her bedrooms door and descending down the stairs the pink haired genin arrives at the main entrance.

Once again Kakashi is seen leaning on the doorframe reading the latest edition of 'Come Come Paradise'.

"Good morning sensei, do we have a mission today?"

"Good morning Sakura, yes I came by to tell you that we have a mission today so meet us at the Old Bridge in half an hour."

"Um ok sensei…" Sakura trails as she notices the book Kakashi is reading in plain view. A vein pulses on her forehead as Sakura starts to crack her knuckles.

Sensing a sudden hostile aura coming from his student Kakashi looks up to see a VERY angry Sakura

"…Kakashi-sensei…how many times did I tell you not to read that book in front of a lady!"

Using his lightning fast reflexes Kakashi quickly puts away his prized book.

"My mistake Sakura, but this is the 'Golden Limited Edition Version of the original Come Come Paradise!'. It was given to me personally by the genius writer Jiraiya-sama!"

"Jiraiya-SAMA a genius? Says Sakura, emphasizing the –sama. "I don't care who gave you the book, if I see you reading it in front of a lady again I will personally burn it! And why the hell would you call that perverted hermit a genius!"

Recalling the earlier event with the Hokage's death glare Kakashi decides to heed his student's advice and leave before any damage is dealt to him or his precious book.

"Um ok Sakura I'll meet you at the bridge in half an hour…"

Waving to Sakura Kakashi once again disappears in a poof of smoke.

-----Hyuuga Residence----

In the center of the Hyuuga Residence is the well renowned private garden of Konoha's noble family. In this garden are many plots of flowers and plants as well as pools and a manmade waterfall. It is in this very waterfall that Hyuuga Neji is seen doing his morning exercises.

The Hyuuga prodigy is meditating under the rushing flow of the waterfall. It is apparent that he is not wearing his headband since the infamous seal of the Hyuuga branch family is clearly visible. Closing his eyes Neji takes a deep breath as the cool water rushes past his body. Relaxing his body Neji begins to release a steady amount of chakra from all the chakra holes in his body. The manifested chakra begins to push against the rushing flow of the waterfall slowly cutting upward through the water until the whole waterfall is split in two.

Two sets of familiar screaming voices break Neji's concentration causing his chakra to waver and the whole waterfall to reshape itself and rush down on him.

"OH NEJI MY WONDEROUS STUDENT, IT BRINGS TEARS TO MY EYES TO SEE YOU DOING SUCH HARD YOUTHFUL TRAINING!"

"OH NEJI-SAN I CANNOT ALLOW YOU TO SURPRASS ME, I SHALL DO FIVE-HUNDRED ONE FINGER PUSHUPS"

Opening his eyes Neji grunts in annoyance. In front of his are two individuals with identical green spandex, bowl shaped haircuts, and fuzzy eyebrows. Both are wearing orange leg warmers and their headband around their waist like a belt.

"Gai-sensei, Lee what are you doing here this early in the day?" says Neji emphasizing the 'early'.

"Neji my beloved teammate, I have the most outstanding news for you today!"

Gai steps up to Lee and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Now, now Lee let me tell our outstanding teammate the news"

"Oh Gai-sensei I am so sorry, my exuberant youth has led me to disrespect your authority!"

"Oh Lee, fear not for there is no punishment for the innocent actions influenced by the burning of your youth!"

Now begins one of the more disturbing scenes in Naruto. Out of nowhere appears a background of a sunset in a beach. Gai and Lee stand on opposite ends of the background facing each other with outstretched arms.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei:

"Lee:

Running up to each other the two 'beautiful green beasts' of Konoha embrace themselves in a 'manly' hug.

All the ensuing commotion causes various members of the Hyuuga clan to arrive and bear witness to the 'unusual' scene. Two of these individuals are none other then Hyuuga Hiashi and Hyuuga Hinata.

Stepping forward Hyuuga Hiashi addresses Maito Gai in a stern manner.

"What is the meaning of all this commotion and your vulgar behavior!"

"My apologies Hiashi-san, the Hokage has sent me to inform Neji and Hinata of a very important mission they will be taking."

Gai takes out two folders and give them to Hinata and Neji respectively.

"The Hokage has organized a classified mission to counter some recent Sound activity. All the members of Team's 7, 8, 10 and my team have been chosen to participate with their original teams. Kurenai asked me to inform Hinata to meet her team in the usual spot."

"Hmm am I correct to assume that the Hokage is sending in these teams instead of Jounin or ANBU because she fears that the traitor Orochimaru will attack?"

"Yes, we cannot spare any Jounin or ANBU in these circumstances"

"Very well thank you for the information. Hinata, Neji I suggest you prepare for your upcoming mission"

Hinata bows to her father.

"Yes father, I promise I will not fail you.

Hiashi nods in acceptance.

Hinata leaves toward the direction of her quarters; Neji starts to go toward his when he is stopped by Hiashi.

"Neji I want you to protect her, don't let any harm come to her…"

Neji formally bows in front of Hiashi

"Ok Hiashi-sama I will protect her with my life…"

"Thank you"

After the two cousins prepare for the mission Gai, Lee and Neji head off toward the house of their last member while Hinata heads toward her teams meeting spot.

-----Nara Deer Range-----

Nara Shikamaru is lying back against the wired fence that marks the end of the Nara family property. Bending his head back to face the sky the lazy chunnin lets out a sigh of annoyance. Above him is a clear blue sky without a cloud in sight.

"Tch, such a boring day…not a single cloud in the sky…"

Bringing his arms to support his head Shikamaru closes his eyes and prepares to drift off to sleep. A slight rustling off to the side signals the entrance of a single fawn. The fawn creeps up to the shadow user and begins to lick his hand. Surprised Shikamaru pulls back his hand but puts it back to pet the young deer.

"Hey you want some sugar huh? Tch now you're going to make me get up, too troublesome."

Getting up Shikamaru walks over to his backpack and takes out a couple of cubes of sugar and offers one of them to the fawn.

"Aww that's sooo cute!"

Looking up the lazy chunnin sees a girl with a platinum blond ponytail wearing a purple sleeveless button-up shirt with a short mini-skirt and fishnet over her elbows and knees. The girl named Yamanaka Ino is sitting on a tree branch. Jumping down from the tree Ino walks up slowly to Shikamaru and the fawn.

"Hey Shikamaru can I feed it?"

"It's a him and sure just take a sugar cube and approach is slowly, it might not accept it from you since it does not recognize your scent."

The blonde chunnin takes a sugar cube and approaches the young deer very slowly. At first the fawn is cautious and slowly backs away but soon the desire for sugar is too great and the fawn steps forward to eat the sugar out of Ino's hand.

"Hehehe it tickles" giggles Ino petting the fawn on its head. "Its fur is so soft, Shikamaru you are so lucky that you get to take care of deer."

"Meh they are actually to troublesome, I have to get up early in the morning to tend to them which means I get less sleep..."

"I would love to have a fawn as a pet, they are sooo cute! That's it Shikamaru I am coming here more often so you can show me the deer."

"Tch too troublesome…anyway why did you come here? And how did you know where to find me?"

"Oh yeah I almost forgot! Asuma-sensei sent me to find you, it seems we have a very important mission and he wants all of us to meet at the training area."

"Mission….man this day is starting to get really bad first no clouds now this…."

After Ino fed the fawn a few more sugar cubes the two chunnin led the deer back to its herd. After that Ino and Shikamaru head off toward their training area to find out more about their mission.

(Ok many of you will no doubt be very confused by the next few dialogues. What is essentially happening is that Kurenai, Asuma, Gai, and Kakashi are briefing their respective teams at the same time. To save time the conversation between teams will overlap one another since they are basically talking about the same thing but in different places.)

-----Team Eight's Training Area-----

Hyuuga Hinata enters the clearing where her team regularly meets up and trains. Already there are her teammates as well as her former sensei. Walking up to Kurenai, Hinata formally bows to her sensei.

"Good Morning Kurenai-sensei, I was informed that we had a mission?"

"Yes Hinata we have an S-Class mission from the Hokage herself."

The news of the S-Class mission causes all three chunnin to snap their attention to the Genjutsu specialist. Kiba jumps up from his sitting position while Hinata gasps and even Shino flinches, even though it is barely visible.

"But Kurenai-sensei, why would they send us chunnin for an S-Class mission? Just a week ago the Hokage wouldn't even let us go on a lower level B-Class mission!"

"Calm down Kiba let me explain; according to the Hokage recent ANBU reconnaissance has informed us that the Sound has once again started military activities …"

-----Team Ten's Training Area-----

"…this leads us to believe that Orochimaru is probably planning to mount an attack on Konoha again." states Asuma to his former students.

"Wait Asuma-sensei! Why doesn't the Hokage send in Jounin's or ANBU for this mission?"

Shikamaru lets out a sigh. "Because Ino, if Tsunade-sama send in Jounin or ANBU and Orochimaru attacks while they are gone we will be..."

-----Team Gai's Training Area------

"…completely defenseless." replies Neji to Lee's question.

"Great job my wonderful pupil, as always your insight shows the limitless power of youth!" praises Gai.

"Gai-sensei will we be doing this mission alone, or will other teams be participating as well?" asks TenTen.

"A wonderful question TenTen, the Hokage has arranged it so that our team will be working with and supporting teams Seven, Eight…"

-----Team Seven's Training Area-----

"…Ten and Gai's team. " Team Eight and Ten have their own mission but Team Gai will be working with us."

"Kakashi-sensei what exactly is our mission?" asks Sakura.

"Our mission is to infiltrate Orochimaru's main base and inflict as much damage to the enemy as we can. We will be using hit and run tactics to maximize the damage as well as minimize casualties. Jiraiya-sama will be joining us on this mission to fill in the fourth spot in our team…"

The mention of the fourth member of Team Seven causes both Sakura and Naruto to go silent. Sakura stares off into the distance as Naruto clenches both his fist and closes his eyes. Naruto slowly reopens his eyes and stares directly into Kakashi's visible eye.

"Kakashi-sensei I want you to tell us the truth, will Sasuke be there?"

The copy-nin looks up into the sky a distant look of regret and sorrow on his face. Closing his visible eye Kakashi lets out a sigh.

"We are not certain where exactly Sasuke is…but his most probable location would be in Orochimaru's lair. Our top priority is the success of this mission but we do have a side objective. If we come across Sasuke we are to bring his back to Konoha. However if he resists we will have to…" the silver haired Jounin drifts off, the message already clear in everyone's minds.

"It won't matter…" mumbles Naruto.

Sakura looks toward a trembling Naruto; her sorrow is quickly replaced by concern.

"What do you mean Naruto?"

"It won't matter because no matter what I will drag that bastard back…"

Sakura and Kakashi both look at Naruto, a newfound determination in their eyes. Sakura walks up to the blond genin.

"Your wrong Naruto, you won't bring him back…we all will…"

Surprised Naruto looks toward Sakura. All signs of sorrow and worry are erased from her face, replaced by the solid determination of the Hokage's apprentice.

"Thanks Sakura, we will bring him back, I know we will…"

In the shadow of the trees a figure with long white hair and a scroll on his back recalls a past very similar to his apprentice's and words that reflect exactly what Naruto had just said…

"_Good luck kid, I just hope that fate doesn't repeat itself…"_

-----Konoha South Gate-----

After the teams are briefed on their respective mission's all the members of each team go home and prepare for their mission. Afterwards they each spend their last few hours in Konoha in their own ways the same thought in the back of everyone's mind, "we may never come back…" As the golden sun sets in the horizon, the rise of the moon signals the beginning of the mission. All the teams are waiting at the gates for a few stragglers.

Tired of waiting Naruto begins to shake his fists at the sky. "What the hell is taking them so long? Kakashi-sensei I can understand but Ero-sennin to!"

Sakura smacks Naruto in the back of the head. "Naruto shut up everyone's waiting patiently so why can't you?"

"Um that's not entirely true Sakura..." Neji speaks up pointing at two of his teammates.

Maito Gai and Rock Lee are doing one pinky handstands while balancing their equipment on their feet.

"Come on Lee if my eternal rival and Jiraiya-sama do not arrive in the next five minutes we will do 10,000 pushups!"

Lee continues his idols rantings.

"And if they don't come in 10 minutes we will do 5,000 laps to Sound and back!"

Every one sweat drops at the unusual way to pass the time.

Suddenly in a swirl of smoke and leaves two ninjas appear. Once the smoke clears Jiraiya and Kakashi are revealed.

"YOU'RE LATE!" screams Naruto and Sakura as usual but also joined in with Ino, Kiba, TenTen and the barks ok Akamaru.

"Um sorry everyone I dropped my shuriken in a jar and couldn't get my hand out…"

"LIAR!" replies everyone mentions above.

Jiraiya rubs his forehead in annoyance. "I went to find him because I knew he would be late..."

After close inspection Hinata notices a bra stuck to the Perverted Hermits sandal. She points out this information to Sakura.

"You went looking for Kakashi-sensei right?"

"Yes Sakura…"

"Then why is there a bra stuck to your sandal?"

Jiraiya looks down at his feet and sees a black lace bra intertwined around his sandal. He starts to sweat furiously as the Hokage's apprentice cracks her knuckles.

"Um isn't it obvious? I was looking for Kakashi and one of the places I looked was a Brothel…"

"Suuure you did…"

All the girls run up to Jiraiya and beat the legendary crap out of him.

-----Five Minutes Later-----

"Okay now that we are all here and all last minute distractions have been taken cared of..."

At this point Kakashi peeks a look at the blob that resembles Jiraiya and thanks fate that they forgot about him.

"…we can finally begin our mission. I don't have to tell you all how important it is that we all complete our objectives no matter what. Failure will not be tolerated and neither will the death of one of your comrades. Protect each other with your lives and make sure everyone gets back home.

Everyone listens to Kakashi's pep talk with utmost respect, no doubt on their minds that he speaks of past experiences…

As all the teams divide into their individual groups, Kakashi walks up to Sakura to get her to heal the Frog Hermit.

"Sakura I think you should heal Jiraiya-sama there, we need him for the success of the mission."

Sakura lets out a mischievous sigh. "Ok alright but he is much more bearable like this…"

Naruto and Kakashi both deadpan at this remark.

-----Outside of Konoha's walls-----

The four teams dash through the night, silent as the shadows around them. As they near the trees start to jump from one tree to another. As they run or hop toward their destination two figures follow them silently. Without the slightest sound the two figures dressed in black and red cloaks follow the group, the red eyes of one of the pursuers silently watching every move a certain Demon Container makes.

-----Sound Territory, Hydra Swamps-----

After hours of traveling the four teams reach their destination, The Hydra Swamps. The swamp itself is a reflection of what awaits them inside. The wet marsh sticks to your boots, the air is full of green and purple fumes, and a constant foul smell radiates from the swamp. The whole scenery screams evil and dangerous, the perfect lair for a snake obsessed sannin.

Sakura takes off her backpack and takes out a box full of blue vials.

"Ok everyone this is the tonic that Tsunade-sama developed. It will immunize you from most of the aerial toxins in the swamp. Each of you should take an extra one in case of an emergency."

Sakura hands out the tonic evenly between all four teams. After everyone self administers the shot, some like Kiba and Akamaru took a little persuading, Kakashi takes out a map of the swamps.

Okay Asuma your team will attack these known bases on the southern side of the swamp. You may also attack any other bases that we do not know about. Remember to interrogate any higher level ninjas if you can.

Kurenai your team will cut through the swamp and sneak into the Hidden Village of Sound. Take the northern most path since that is the one with the least security.

Gai your team and mine will head directly into the center of the swamp and into Orochimaru's main base. From there we will plant explosive tags on key points and bring the base down.

After everyone confirmed their parts in the separate missions the four teams go their separate way confidence and determination on each individual face.

-----With Team Ten-----

Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, and Asuma quickly run through the swamps using chakra to prevent themselves from sinking into the marsh. Ino suddenly loses her balance when she jumps on top of a log and fall backwards. Fortunately Shikamaru is right behind her to catch her before she falls.

"Th-thanks Shikamaru"

"No problem, just be more careful next time ok?"

"Alright"

Choji walks up to the fallen log and moves it aside. Then turning back he takes the map for Asuma and examines it.

"Where is the closest target Asuma-sensei?"

"According to this map the closest target is five kilometers south-east from here."

Shikamaru peers at the camp, memorizing the various camps and landmarks.

"From the first target we should head east to this one and then double back to the northern one."

"Why?" asks Ino.

"They will most likely call for aid from the northern encampment. This way we can avoid the reinforcements and then take them out later on our terms."

"Good plan Shikamaru; ok let's head for the first camp."

Team Ten continues to head for their target unaware that they are being followed by a figure with a sound headband.

A/N: Finally this chapter took forever to write and would have probably taken longer if people did not constantly annoy me to finish. Anyway this chapter feels kind of rushed and some of the dialogue seems empty but I can't figure a way to fix it now. I might go back and edit this chapter later if I can figure out what about it is bothering me. Anyway next chapter Asuma's team gets a surprise visit from an unknown stalker.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Naruto.

**Warning: The rating of this story has been pushed up to M for explicit scenes with violence. From this point on there will be many graphic fight scenes with blood and gore. Read at your own risk. **

A/N: So yes after about a little more then three months I finally got my self to finish writing the next chapter. Why did it take so long? Well no reason other then the fact that I have been very lazy and have been busy with school and life. Anyway I decided to write an entire chapter without Team 7 or Team Gai mentioned at all. This is because I think that Team 8 and 10 do not get enough attention in the anime/manga. So this chapter will be entirely Team 8/10 centric, no Naruto or Sasuke (who has yet to appear) stealing the spotlight.

-----Hydra Marshes-----

The noxious fumes emanating from the swamps mix into the atmosphere and create a thick foul smelling air that is hard to breathe. This smell fits right into the wet, slimy scenery of the Hydra Marshes. Yamanaka Ino gags as she steps into the wet marsh underfoot, a scowl appearing on her face as she swats away a large insect hovering inches away from her face. In front of her Shikamaru, Chouji and Asuma slowly make there way through the dank marsh.

"Shikamaru! How long until we get to the target? This swamp is seriously starting to disgust me, not to mention my hair is all messed up…"

"Now, now Ino I'm surprised your worried about your hair at a time like this. I suggest you put more attention on the mission and less on your hair." says Asuma while blowing smoke at a dragonfly, as an attempt to shoo it away.

"According to this map we should be arriving at the target soon. ETA is about seven minutes; the first base seems to be mainly a training facility so there will probably be many low ranking shinobi there." replies Shikamaru to Ino's question.

Akimichi Chouji shakes the contents of his empty chip bag and sighs in disappointment. "Aww a training facility? Damn I was hoping we could go to someplace where there is a lot of food or something…"

Ino smacks her forehead in annoyance. "Why did I have to be stuck in the same team as a glutton, a chain smoker and a lazy genius?"

"You forgot a drama queen…" mutters Shikamaru.

Ino wheels around and grabs Shikamaru and twists his ear.

"Ow! Why did you do that?"

Ino grins a menacingly "That's for calling me a drama queen."

Shikamaru sighs and rephrases Ino's question. "Why did I get put in such a troublesome team?"

"Because our father's thought it would be a good idea to continue the Ino-Shika-Cho legacy." replies Chouji with a grin.

-----Team Eight-----

The members of Team Eight sprint across the swamps at an impressive speed. They are traveling in a basic diamond formation with Kiba and Akamaru at point, Shino and Kurenai in the center and Hinata taking the rear, with her Byakugan activated.

A series of barks from Akamaru informs Kiba that there is danger ahead. The dog user signals the rest of the party to stop.

"Akamaru says that he smells humans ahead of us, Hinata you want to check it out?"

"Okay!" Hinata focuses chakra into her eyes and the veins around her eyes begin to pulse. "Yes Kiba is right, fifty feet ahead of us is what seems to be a Jounin instructor and a team of Genin."

"Good, thank you Hinata, keep your presence hidden everyone we will try to sneak past them. If we are discovered take care of them as fast as possible, understand?"

"Yes!" says Kiba and Hinata while Akamaru barks and Shino nods.

Team 8 continues toward their direction, being cautious to mask their presence.

-----Team Ten-----

Shikamaru scans the small camp with a binocular before passing it along to Chouji. Using a stick he sketches a small map showing the layout of the enemy base on the dirt below him. The camp and its surroundings are built on elevated grounds, most likely achieved by filling in parts of the swamp.

"Okay there are twenty or so Chuunin in the training grounds and four Jounin that are in a tent here."

Shikamaru points to a square drawn on the map, representing the mentioned tent. The shadow user then points to the North and East gates, the only two entrances to the camp.

"Chouji will be attacking from the North and Asuma-sensei will attack from the East. This will draw in the Chuunin allowing both of you to take out your targets with ease. Ino and I will sneak around and take care of the Jounin. After you two eliminate the Chuunin fall back to the rendezvous point and wait there till we give the signal."

Ino hands Shikamaru back his binocular, which he puts back into his backpack. "Hey Shikamaru, this will give us the opportunity to try out our new techniques. I hope those Jounin aren't pushovers I want to practice 'that' technique."

"Fine, but don't push yourself too hard. Don't use 'it' unless you have a clear opening…"

Ino crosses her arms and fakes a pout. "Fine I won't use 'it' then…are you sure my father didn't tell you to watch out for me?"

Shikamaru sighs before staring up into the clouds. "Of course he did, he always does…oh well I can't really blame him, it would be devastating if daddy's little girl didn't make it home." says Shikamaru with a smirk.

Ino blushes as her face turns a light shade of pink. "Yeah I should have known, but I'm not a kid anymore and I can protect myself now."

Asuma drops his burnt out cigarette and lights a new one. "Are you two done yet? I want to get this mission done as fast as I can, this place really sucks. Besides you two can flirt once we get home…"

Hearing Asuma's words Ino begins to radiate a killer intent. Seconds later the psycho blonde begins thrashing, trying to kill her sensei, the only thing holding her back are Shikamaru and Chouji.

Asuma sweat drops at his student's antics. "Ino calm down you are going to give away our position…anyway I think we should start the objective before it gets dark."

Asuma turns around and begins walking toward the East gate. _"Sigh I should really stop teasing her or I might not die from lung cancer like I had planned…" _

-----Team Eight-----

Team Eight quietly travels through the swamps, suppressing their chakra and hiding their presence in hopes of sneaking past the Jounin Instructor and his Genin. However Kiba accidentally steps on a twig, which creates a loud 'snap' in the silence. Stopping the dog user silently curses at his mistake. Everyone stops and Kurenai signals Hinata to use her Byakugan to check for the Jounin.

"Kurenai-sensei, the Jounin has detected us and is now bringing his team here to investigate."

Kurenai nods at the news. "Ok then it can't be helped. The three of you first take care of the Genin, try not to kill them, knocking them out will do. After that we will take care of the Jounin using the 'Binding Formation'.

Team Eight disperses into the surrounding, lying in wait for the approaching team. Minutes later the Jounin and his team come into view. The Jounin, a young man with brown hair and eyes, kneels down to examine the ground. At the same time Kiba throws two smoke bombs into the area and Team Eight flashes into action.

As the area is filled with blinding purple smoke all the members of Team Eight attack their separate targets. Hyuuga Hinata rushes into the smoke, rushing toward a Genin with short purple hair and black eyes. The startled boy throws a handful of shuriken at the Hyuuga heiress, however the shuriken are thrown with poor aim and miss their target. Hinata reaches the Genin and swipes at him with her hands. The boy jumps back to avoid the attack, while at the same time he goes through some hand seals.

"**Doku Funki no jutsu!" (Poison Gas technique) **

The Genin takes a deep breath and releases a stream of poisonous fumes from his mouth. Dodging the attack Hinata disappears and reappears behind the Genin. Before the Genin can respond, Hinata hits a few pressure points on the Genin's back, knocking him out.

Aburame Shino passively stands in front of a female Genin with long brown hair, waiting for her to make the first move. The Genin, seeing that her opponent is not willing to make the first move puts her hands in a single seal

"**Kanakirigoe**** no jutsu!" (Shrill Voice technique) **

The girl begins to scream a very ear piercing screech that sends out a wave of sound at the bug user. Shino does not even try to evade the technique; instead he allows the sound wave to hit him. Instead of falling to his knees with his ears bleeding like the Genin had expected, Shino instead erupts in a swarm of Destruction Bugs. Shocked the girl gags in disgust, not noticing a shadow that drops behind her until it is too late. Turning her head around the Genin sees Shino's stoic face before the bug user chops her neck, knocking her out.

The last Genin, a tall boy with black hair and a scarf covering his face takes out a short staff and stands in a defensive position, awaiting an attack from the blinding smoke. Out of the smoke a large white dog charges at the boy. Raising his staff the Genin lunges at Akamaru, but the ground below him suddenly gives way and the boy is dragged underground until only his head is visible. A second later Kiba pops out of the ground and grins at the scowling Genin before spraying him with sleeping gas.

The moment the Sound Jounin sees the smoke bombs hit the ground he quickly orders the Genin to take a defensive formation before taking out a kunai and running into the smoke. Peering into the smoke he strains his senses, trying to locate the position of the attackers. Seconds later he hears three consecutive noises signaling that all three Genin have been knocked out or worse. Running back to where he last saw the Genin the Jounin finds all three unconscious on the ground. Suddenly a woman with black hair and red eyes materializes in front of him. The Jounin leaps back and throws the kunai at Kurenai but the genjutsu specialist waves her right hand at the kunai and they freeze in midair. Suddenly the ground under the Jounin erupts below him and roots and tendrils curl around and latch onto his body immobilizing him.

"Damn it this is a Genjutsu…" Bringing his hands together the Jounin summons chakra and searches for the "overlap" in the Genjutsu. Finding it the Jounin concentrates and uses the release technique.

"Kai!"

As the Genjutsu is dispelled the roots and vines disappear. The Jounin quickly finds that Kurenai has disappeared and his legs are immobilized by a swarm of bugs. Behind him Kiba has his arms latched around his arms successfully preventing him from moving. As the Jounin struggles against his captors Hinata appears in front of him her Byakugan activated. Unable to move the Jounin is helpless to prevent Hinata from attacking him as the Hyuuga strikes multiple points on the Jounin's body temporarily paralyzing him. Hinata finishes him off by using a **Juuken Ryuu** thrust straight to the chest, forcing chakra into his heart and causing it to collapse. Kiba lets go of the Jounin and Shino releases his bugs. The Jounin falls to the ground and as the darkness begins to spread the last thing he sees are the members of Team Eight running off in the distance.

-----Team Ten-----

Akamichi Chouji stands in front of the North Gate of the small Sound Camp. Behind him are the two Chuunin that had the unfortunate luck of having guard duty at that time. Chouji focuses chakra into his arms and prepares to use his family's special technique.

"**Bubun Baika no Jutsu!" (Partial Multi-Size Technique)**

Chouji's arms enlarge, growing in size and forming massive fists. Using his new larger appendages Chouji smashes his arms through the gates. Stepping inside the compound Chouji walks toward the training yard.

The noise of the gates being broken catches the attention of all the Chuunin in the training area. Once they see the massive shinobi walk toward them the Chuunin rush toward the enemy.

As the Chuunin charge at him, Chouji extends his massive right fist and punches the leftmost Chuunin in the chest, shattering his ribs. Then Chouji sweeps his arm rightward smashing it into every ninja that is unable to evade.

The remaining Chuunin that managed to evade Chouji's attack stop running toward the Akimichi, no one wanting to be crushed by the giant appendages. Suddenly the Eastern Gate explodes as Asuma storms into the camp and rushes at the remaining Chuunin.

In the tent on the far side of the camp four Jounin sit around a square table and are playing a game of poker. One of the Jounin folds his hand and places it on the table in defeat. Loud explosions and screams of pain cause all four of the Jounin turn their attention toward the direction of the North Gate. They all walk out of the tent and two of them run toward the training yard to investigate while the other two remain.

------ Ino and Shikamaru-----

Yamanaka Ino slowly creeps up behind one of the Jounin; her presence masked by her **Meisai Gakure no Jutsu (Camouflage Concealment Technique**). Behind her Shikamaru places a scroll on the ground, which is conveniently filled with the shadow form a nearby wall. The lazy genius bites his thumb and traces his blood onto the seal before closing it and placing it vertically onto the ground. Shikamaru then goes through a short seal sequence and slams his hands onto the scroll which sinks into the shadows on contact.

"**Kage Hokou no jutsu" (Shadow Walk technique) **whispers Shikamaru. The lazy genius puts his hands into his thinking position and descends into the shadows.

Ino sneaks up behind one of the Jounin and releases her jutsu. Before the Jounin has time to respond, Ino slams her hands onto his back, with the index and thumb of both hands touching.

"**Kage Hokou no jutsu" (Shadow Walk technique)**

The Jounin drops his head down and looks unconscious, but moments later he reawakens. This time however the Jounin's eyes are faded grey a sign that Ino's jutsu has worked.

At the same time that Ino begins her technique, Shikamaru walks out of a shadow behind the second Jounin. The Jounin jumps back, but when he lands onto the ground Shikamaru's shadow connects with his.

"Heh **Kage Mane no jutsu** is a success!"

Standing up from his crouched position Shikamaru puts his hand into his weapon pouch and walks up to the captured Jounin. The Jounin imitates Shikamaru's movements perfectly, even as he struggles to get out of the jutsu. As captive and captor walk up to each other Shikamaru sticks a seal onto the Jounin's forehead and follows up with a technique.

"**Nekashitsukeru**** no jutsu" (Force Sleep technique)**

Shikamaru places his index and middle finger on the seal and suddenly the Jounin's head droops down as he falls into a forced sleep. The seal then burns up and is taken away by the wind, leaving no trace of Shikamaru's technique. Releasing a sigh the Chuunin wipes the perspiration on his forehead with the back of his hand. Ino begins to giggle as the sleeping Jounin imitates Shikamaru's actions and turns her attention to her captured Jounin. Ino closes her eyes in concentration and the second Jounin begins to move slowly.

"This feels weird, it's almost like how it feels when I enter someone else's body but moving requires more concentration. It's amazing how out techniques were made to compliments each other so perfectly."

Shikamaru turns toward direction of the training grounds. "Ino you should hurry up and figure out that jutsu of yours, we still have to take care of the other two Jounin…"

Ino stick out her tongue at Shikamaru. "Fine, fine you're such a killjoy. Ok let's get this over with, by the way is it just me or are these ninja's pushovers? I mean these two Jounin were captured so easily…"

"This is a training facility for newly promoted Chuunin so that would explain why the Chuunin are so weak. As for the Jounin, it seems that Sound has a different promotion policy from Leaf. Otogakure seems to favor quantity over quality and trains a huge amount of shinobi at once, as well as promoting them with an easier standard. While Otogakure focuses their efforts on sheer numbers, Konohagakure focuses on each ninja's quality and skill. That is why Konoha has a smaller promotion rate. However that does not mean that Konoha's ninja force is inferior to Oto's, even though they might have more shinobi our shinobi are far more skilled and I assume most of their Chuunin are actually mid to high Genin level."

Ino nods in agreement as she comprehends all the information. "So I guess then the majority of their Jounin are actually Chuunin by our standards?"

"Yes but don't underestimate them just because of that, among all their shinobi I would assume that there are shinobi that actually deserves their rank, some of those are probably Orochimaru's most loyal subjects…"

Ino shudders when Shikamaru mentions the Snake Sannin. Even though she has never actually had the bad luck to witness the Sannin she has heard tales of him from various shinobi and has heard first hand experiences from Sakura. From all the information she has seen Ino concludes that Orochimaru was definitely bad news. Coming into combat with the Snake Sannin would definitely be suicide for someone at her level.

Shikamaru watches silently as Ino shivers in fright. Concerned he places a hand on Ino's shoulder and turns her around. "Ino are you alright?"

Ino, forced out of her thoughts by Shikamaru's sudden contact, takes a step back and shakes her head. Forcing a smile the blonde assures Shikamaru that everything is alright before suggesting that they take care of the remaining Jounin and then meet up with Asuma and Chouji. Ino and Shikamaru both run after the Jounin, their captives running ahead of them.

-----Asuma and Chouji-----

Asuma drives the chakra enhanced blade of his knuckle knife through the neck of a Chuunin, cutting through his windpipe and snapping his neck bone in half. Quickly turning around Asuma sweeps the blades in a horizontal arc, slashing two more Chuunin in the chest. One of the Chuunin falls to his knees as blood spurts out of his wounds and the other is replaced by a log. The Chuunin reappears behind Asuma and slashes at him with a kunai. However the Jounin easily sidesteps the attack and forces the knife in his right hand into the Chuunin's shoulder. Said Chuunin stifles a scream as he glares at Asuma in rage. He then spits in the Jounins face as a last resort for escaping with his life. Unfortunately for him, his last actual proved to be a big mistake as Asuma slowly drives the knife up through his shoulder bone and out. Not able to resist the pain any longer the Chuunin yells out in pain. However his scream is quickly silenced as Asuma drives his other knife into his skull.

Wiping the saliva off his face with the sleeve of the Chuunin, Asuma turns toward the direction of Chouji who is taking are of the remaining Chuunin. The large shinobi is currently in the form of his '**Nikudan Sensha' **technique. However this time Chouji is using a variation of his usual "Meatball Tank". Instead of all of his limbs being incased inside the sphere, his arms are stretched out beside him. Chouji rolls toward a group of the four remaining Chuunin. As the gigantic sphere rolls toward them the Chuunin jump out of the way and surround Chouji. Chouji suddenly stops and begins to start spinning horizontally causing his outstretched arms to slam into the Chuunin with high speeds and send them flying.

Releasing his jutsu Chouji reverts to his normal form. Asuma puts away his knuckle knives and lights a new cigarette. Taking in a whiff of smoke Asuma blows out a ring of smoke. Chouji takes out another of his never ending bag of chips and begins to eat to regain his lost calories.

"Ah, I wonder if Shikamaru and Ino are finished with their part of the plan yet..."

"Don't worry Asuma-sensei Ino is there so Shikamaru won't slack off."

"Hah your right okay lets get back to the rendezvous point and wait for them."

Both Asuma and Chouji walk out of the encampment toward the predetermined meeting point.

-----Ino and Shikamaru-----

The two Jounin arrive at the training facility only to witness a gruesome scene. Lying scattered across the field are the corpses or unconscious bodies of all the Chuunin. One of the Jounin kneels down and examines the body of a Chuunin that has a clean slash straight across his chest.

"Damn, what happened here? Whoever did this must have been strong to take out this any Chuunin…"

The second Jounin walks up to a few Chuunin that have been literally crushed to death. Leading up the courses is a deep track that runs right over the corpses.

"Daichi, there was definitely more then one attacker, these bodies have been killed differently then the ones near you…"

"Hmm you're right Kenta, which must mean that..."

Daichi is cut off as two shadows appear behind them. Both Kenta and Daichi turn around to find the other two Jounin behind them.

"Takashi! Yasu! What are you two doing here?" asks Kenta. "We told you two to stay and keep lookout at the tent."

"Never mind that, since you guy are here now we need the both of you to relay a message to Sound. Tell them that at least two unknown shinobi infiltrated the base…"

Daichi suddenly gets suspicious and takes a defensive position. "Wait a minute you two aren't acting like yourselves…who are you? Reveal yourselves imposters!"

Takashi (the one under Ino's control) takes out a kunai and slashes at Daichi. Daichi jumps back, avoiding the attack and takes out a kunai of his own. Yasu throws a wave of shuriken at Daichi however Kenta jumps up in front of him and deflects them with his wakazashi.

Kenta then begins a set of hand seals, ending with the snake seal. He then rubs the flat edge of his wakazashi with his index and middle finger.

"**Ninpo: Suteresu Hasaki" (Ninja Magic: Stealth Blade)**

The entire blade of the wakazashi disappears leaving only the hilt visible. Kenta smirks while he balances the sword hilt on his index finger.

"I don't know why you are but if you mess with me you will get cut."

Kenta grabs the hilt and rushes toward Yasu while Daichi goes through a set of hand seals. Yasu throws a flash bomb into the air before taking out a kunai with an exploding tag attacked to it. Jumping into the air Yasu throws the exploding kunai at Daichi. Takashi also jumps up and throws another wave of shuriken at Kenta, this time with reinforced wire attached to them.

Both Jounin prepare to deflect the projectiles but at that moment the flash bomb hits the ground and explodes into blinding light that forces the Jounin to cover their eyes.

Using the light to his advantage Shikamaru slips out of the shadows and kneels on the ground, his hands intertwined in the bird seal.

"**Kage Nui" (Shadow Sewing)**

The shadows near Shikamaru emerge from the ground in tendrils. The shadow tendrils then shoot ahead and pierce into Kenta. Kenta drops down onto the ground, killed instantly from multiple pierces to his forehead.

As Kenta falls dead, Ino drops her concealment technique and sweep kicks Takashi. Takashi falls back onto the ground and Ino pounces on him, driving two kunai through his palms and into the ground. Ino then puts her hands together into her family's special seal and focuses an intense amount of murderous intent at the Jounin.

"**Shinhakai no jutsu!" (Mind Destruction technique) **

Takashi begins to scream in agony as he struggles to fight the Genjutsu. Ino clenches her teen in concentration as she tries to overpower her opponent's mind. Takashi cannot take the intense mental torture for long and his mind snaps. Seconds later Takashi stops struggling, dead before his head even hits the ground.

Ino slowly takes herself off the dead Jounin, her entire body shaking from both physical and mental exhaustion. Shikamaru is instantly beside her, supporting her head with his arms. "Ino! Are you alright? Your face is pale…"

"I-it's ok I'm fine, just drained from the technique that's all…"

Shikamaru smiles once he finds out Ino isn't in any immediate danger. "Jeez why did you have to use a jutsu you haven't mastered at a time like this?"

Ino lets out a weak smile. "Aren't you going to say 'too troublesome'? " She then falls asleep from exhaustion.

"Tch, don't scare me like that…" Shikamaru takes out a soldier pill and gently slips it into Ino's mouth.

"Women are too troublesome…"

The shadow user picks up his teammate and walks toward the rendezvous point.

-----Team Eight-----

The team of four shinobi and one dog jump from tree to tree on their way to the Hidden Village of Sound. Nearly twenty minutes ago they exited the Hydra Marshes without any further incidents. Once they were out the Konoha ninja's were relived to see a dense forest, much like the ones back home.

Hinata, with her Byakugan activated, suddenly signals everyone to stop. "There are two shinobi following us. From the look of their headbands they are from the Sound."

Kurenai looks behind them then turns her attention to Hinata. "Is there any way we can avoid them Hinata?"

The Hyuuga shakes her head. "No they seem to know exactly where we are. They will arrive here in five minutes..."

Shino stretches his arms out in front of him and releases a few of his destruction bugs. The bugs spread out and fly toward the enemy's direction.

Kurenai nods her head. "Good job Shino, you can keep surveillance. Kiba, go set up your traps in the clearing ahead. Hinata go take cover in the trees and tell us when they get close. I will draw them into the clearing. Be careful and don't hold anything back, these are most likely advanced Jounin."

"No problem Kurenai-sensei, we'll just kick their ass and send them back to Orochimaru, right Akamaru?"

Akamaru barks in agreement.

Everyone scatters taking their positions and preparing to take on their pursuers.

-----Five Minutes Later-----

Two shinobi confidently enter the clearing, both wearing Sound forehead protectors. One of them is a male, wearing a long black cloak with a Chinese dragon design etched around it. The cloak's right sleeve is torn off, revealing a tattoo of a dragon above his elbow. The ninja has long black hair, tied in a ponytail and lazy brown eyes.

The shinobi turns toward his partner and lets out a sigh. "Hey Haigara it seems they have found out we have been following them. I'm bored can't we just burn the whole forest down?"

The woman referred to as Haigara brushes a few strands of brown hair out of her eyes, which are also brown. She wears the same type of cloak as the male nut both her sleeves are torn off and a phoenix is etched on the back, fiery wings ending at the shoulders. The hemline of the cloak only reaches above her knees, revealing her black shorts and elegant long legs.

"We cannot burn the forest down Katsu, because if we did we could not be sure that they have died. Besides they are probably nearby, watching us right now…"

"Alright neesan I won't burn the forest down, but the Konoha Shinobi better be interesting because I'm bored…"

Haigara snaps her attention toward the edge of the clearing. "Katsu, it seems things might get interesting after all. They are making their first move."

Both siblings take a defensive position as the members of Team Eight step into view. Kiba and Akamaru charge forward and quickly close the distance between themselves and the siblings. Both beast and master lash out with their fangs and claws. Both Katsu and Haigara evade the attacks with ease, weaving in and out of the fray of fangs and claws.

Haigara jumps back, her hands flashing through a blur of hand seals. Katsu brings his hands together to form a unusual hand seal. His thumbs and pointer fingers are stretched and touching while the other fingers are clenched, resembling a candle flame. Both shinobi release their techniques in perfect synchronization.

"**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" (Great Fireball Technique)**

"**Ninpo: Gyoshi Ryu!" (Dragon Gaze)**

Haigara unleashes an enormous fireball that envelops the members of Team Eight, while at the same time prevents the results of Katsu's technique from being seen. From behind the receding fire Haigara calls out to her brother.

"Katsu, now that we got rid of those irritating illusions lets take care of the real targets."

The flames left behind from Haigara's technique suddenly spring to life as they rise and begin to hover in midair. Seconds later the hovering flames separate and shoot off into different directions, burning through trees as they shoot toward their target.

Hiding in the branches of a nearby tree, Kurenai curses silently as a torrent of fire rushes toward her. Using chakra to amplify her jump Kurenai shoots back to avoid being burned. The scathing flames barely brush past the Genjutsu master, singeing her waist. Kurenai lands once again on a branch only to witness the torrent of fire bend and head for her again.

"Shit! What kind of jutsu is this!"

Kurenai flashes through hand seals as the flames get closer.

"**Suiton: ****Fukaikiri**** no jutsu!" (Dense Fog technique) **

The water particles around the Jounin condense to form a barrier of fog. The torrent of fire hits the fog and burns out, leaving Kurenai safe from the fire. After releasing the barrier Kurenai pants slightly from the intense heat. The Genjutsu specialist then dashes off to find the rest of her team.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Hinata jumps from tree to tree, gracefully evading the long streams of fire that constantly rush towards her. Focusing chakra into her palms Hinata deflects a stream of fire with hands and forces it to go out by channeling chakra into it. After doing the same thing to the other streams of fire, Hinata focuses her Byakugan to check on her teammates.

"…_Kurenai-sensei seems to be fine; she is going toward the direction of Kiba and Akamaru. Kiba is also okay but Akamaru seems to be a bit burned. Shino…SHIT! He's in trouble! I need to help him!"_

Hyuuga Hinata dashes off to help her friend focusing more chakra into her feet in an attempt to force herself to run faster.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Aburame Shino has found himself to be in a very perilous situation. After the female shinobi known as Haigara had used her technique, he had momentarily lost track on the brother's actions. Thus he was surprised to see the flames left behind from the **Goukakyuu no Jutsu **spring into life and rush at him. Unfortunately Shino was the one closest to the clearing therefore he was the first one to be forced into the clearing by the waves of manipulated flames.

"Damn it..." cursed Shino quietly. "This could turn out to be bad; fire really isn't my favorite element…"

The Aburame is repeatedly forced to draw nearer to the Sound Duo, against his better judgment. To his dismay it seemed to be the one named Katsu manipulating the flames, and the younger brother seemed to take a mild sadistic interest in Shino's predicament.

"Ah, an Aburame…I have never had the in facing a member of that clan." Katsu waves his right hand lazily and the hovering flames recede slightly, giving Shino a chance to catch his breath. Currently not being attacked by he flames, Shino finally has a chance to examine the Oto-nin.

Katsu's right eye has changed from brown to pitch black, an insignia with the kanji for fire overlapping the pupil. The entire right side of his face is covered in an intricate seal that resembles a cursed seal. The seal pulses from black to red every few seconds, giving the shinobi an eerie look.

"Hey Haigara neesan, how about you take care of the other Konoha ninjas while I play around with this one?"

Haigara turns toward her brother and gives him an annoyed look. "Fine but do not waste too much time, I'd rather not waste valuable time on these inferior shinobi." Haigara runs off toward the forest in search of the remaining shinobi.

Shino stands impassively in front of Katsu, a fair distance between the two shinobi. Katsu stretches out his hands and the flames once again spring to life and rush toward the bug user. Shino kicks back a few feet and sends out a wall of destruction bugs to shield him. The wave of fire parts in the middle and surrounds Shino before coming together and incinerating everything in its path.

A/N: There we go, after a few months chapter nine is finally finished. This chapter was mostly written to show how the ninjas in Team's Eight and Ten have advanced since the time skip. I felt that both teams showed great teamwork in the anime so I decided to show how well they worked together and how their techniques could be sued together. Since I have created many original techniques as well as have used some unfamiliar ones from the manga I will explain them all in the following section.

-----Explanation of Techniques used in this chapter-----

**Doku Funki no jutsu (Poison Gas technique) - **An original Ninjutsu. Basically a genin level poison technique.

**Kanakirigoe**** no jutsu (Shrill Voice technique) - **An original Ninjutsu. Another genin level technique. Basically chakra is channeled into the sound wave being emitted from her voice to create a mini sonic wave.

**Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial Multi-Size Technique) - **An Akamichi family technique. Using this technique an Akamichi alter the size of their body, or a part of their body

**Meisai Gakure no Jutsu (Camouflage Concealment Technique**) – A Genjutsu used by a rock ninja in the Kakashi Gaiden series. I needed a camouflage technique for Ino and didn't want to make on up so I decided to have her use this one.

**Kage Hokou no jutsu (Shadow Walk technique) – **An original Nara family technique. Using a scroll and the needed hand seals, Shikamaru can meld into a shadow and reappear in another shadow.

**Nekashitsukeru**** no jutsu (Force Sleep technique) – **An original Ninjutsu. Using a scroll and the needed hand seals, the user can force the target into sleep state.

**Ninpo: Suteresu Hasaki (Ninja Magic: Stealth Blade) – **Original ninja skill. It basically makes the blade of a sword disappear, making it harder to dodge or calculate the length of the blade.

**Kage Nui (Shadow Sewing) – **A technique used in the manga by Shikamaru. After using the needed seals, Shikamaru's shadow will rise up in tendrils and whip and pierce the target.

**Shinhakai no jutsu (Mind Destruction technique) - **An original Genjutsu. Using her family's specialty and knowledge of the human psyche, Ino will focus her killer intent and try to over power her targets mind. This technique is very dangerous and can be only performed when the opponents mind is weaker then the user. An advanced shinobi can easily overpower Ino and cause her own mind to be destroyed.

**Ninpo: Gyoshi Ryu! (Dragon Gaze) – **An original supplementary Ninjutsu. Using a special seal Katsu activates a seal on his right pupil. After the seal is activated Katsu is able to manipulate the surrounding flames to his will. An in-depth explanation on the seal and technique will be revealed when Katsu begins to speak about his past in a later chapter.

**Suiton: ****Fukaikiri**** no jutsu! (Dense Fog technique) – **An original Ninjutsu. A small scale water technique that uses chakra to condense the water particles in the air into a shield of fog. The shield can be used to protect the user from small fire techniques.


End file.
